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Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.

Young people from eastern Congo lay down the machetes and knives used to kill their families at the foot of Christ’s cross to symbolize their forgiveness in a moving encounter with Pope Francis during his trip to the country Feb. 1, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope "left without words" After Children’s Shocking Stories of Violence in Eastern Congo

In a moving encounter with Pope Francis, children from eastern Congo laid down the machetes and knives used to kill...

Speaking in Our Lady of Congo Cathedral in Kinshasa on Feb. 2, 2023, the pope encouraged priests and religious to continue to bring the Congolese people Jesus, who “heals the wounds of every human heart.” | Vatican Media

Pope to Priests in DR Congo: Bring People Jesus, who "heals the wounds of every heart"

On the World Day of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis thanked the more than 18,000 priests and religious in the Democratic...

Pope Francis meets with refugees from Congo and South Sudan before his flight to Africa on Jan. 31, 2023. | Centro Astalli

Pope Francis Meets with Refugees from Congo and South Sudan Before Flight to Africa

Before departing on his flight to Africa on Tuesday morning, Pope Francis met with a group of refugees and migrants...

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, (left) and Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops | Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Synod organizers Tell Continental Assemblies not to "impose an agenda" on Discussions

Cardinals organizing the Synod on Synodality have written a letter to all of the world’s bishops sharing urgent considerations for...

Pope Francis prayed for peace in the Holy Land at the end of his Angelus address on Jan. 29, 2023. / Vatican Media

Pope Francis Expresses Sorrow Over "spiral of death" in the Holy Land

In his Sunday Angelus address, the pope expressed “great sorrow” for the death of Palestinians killed in an Israeli military...

Pope Francis speaking at the general audience at the Vatican, Dec. 21, 2022. | Vatican Media

"Being homosexual is not a crime," Pope Francis Reiterates in New Interview

Pope Francis has reiterated that homosexuality is “not a crime” in a new interview published Wednesday.

Pope Francis delivers the Angelus address on Jan. 22, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Amid Polarization in Church, We are Called to Speak Truth with Charity

Pope Francis has urged Christians to “speak the truth and to do so with charity” amid polarization and divisions within...

Pope Francis delivers the Angelus address on Jan. 22, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: To Stay with Jesus Requires the Courage to Leave our Sins

In his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis said that following Jesus requires the courage to leave behind the sins that...

Pope Francis confers the ministry of catechist in St. Peter's Basilica on Jan. 22, 2023. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Confers Lay Ministries Upon 10 People in St. Peter’s Basilica

Pope Francis formally conferred the ministries of lector and catechist upon four men and six women from the Philippines, Mexico,...

The sainthood causes of Father Miguel Costa y Llobera (1854–1922) and Sister Maria Margherita Diomira of the Incarnate Word (1651–1657) were advanced by Pope Francis on Jan. 19, 2023. | Credit: Montanyes Regalades, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and P. Projaing, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Meet the Six Newest Venerable Servants of God in the Catholic Church

Pope Francis declared six Catholics as venerable servants of God on Thursday, moving them each one step closer to canonization.

Pope Francis meets a Buddhist delegation from Cambodia on Jan. 19, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Discusses "ecological conversion" with Buddhist Monks from Cambodia

Pope Francis spoke with Buddhist monks from Cambodia on Thursday about the need for “ecological conversion.”

Pope Francis speaks at his general audience in Paul VI Hall on Jan. 18, 2023. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis: Jesus is "the unsurpassed model of evangelization"

Pope Francis invited Christians on Wednesday to pray for the grace to have a “pastoral heart” like Jesus that “suffers...

Pope Francis prays in front of a crucifix during his general audience on Oct. 26, 2022. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis Prays for Victims of Congo Church Bombing

Pope Francis expressed his closeness on Tuesday to the victims of a church bombing in the Democratic Republic of Congo...

Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address in St. Peter's Square on Jan. 15, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Announces Ecumenical Prayer, Reflects on St. John the Baptist's "spirit of service"

In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to cultivate the virtue of knowing “how to step aside”...

Pope Francis delivers the Angelus address on Jan. 8, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis: God’s Justice Frees us from the Snares of Evil

In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis said that God’s justice is often misunderstood as mere punishment when in...

Pope Francis baptized 13 babies in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 8, 2023. | Vatican Media

Celebrate the Date of Your Baptism Like a Birthday: Pope Francis

Pope Francis baptized babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday and encouraged parents to teach their children to celebrate their...

Celebrations for the Solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 6, 2023. | Vatican Media

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Pope Francis: The Three Kings Found God in Poverty

In his Angelus address for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Francis said that the Three Kings teach us to...

Pope Francis with some special visitors at the general audience, Dec. 21, 2022 | Vatican Media

Pope Francis on Epiphany: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone to Seek God Like the Magi

On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Francis said that if the Magi had remained comfortable, they never would have...

Tabea Schneider (far left) with a group of other pilgrims who traveled 20 hours by bus from Cologne, Germany, to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. | Courtney Mares / CNA

People Attending Benedict XVI’s Funeral Recall their Personal Memories of a "humble pope"

Catholics from Germany, France, Ghana, India, Australia, Uganda, and many more countries who attended the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus...

Rosary beads entwined in the hands of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as his body lies in state on Jan. 3, 2023, in St. Peter's Basilica. | Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Here are the Prayers and Readings for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Fneral Mass

The Vatican has released the Mass booklet for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral.