Advertisement

Vatican news

Pope Francis invoke the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy at a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter's Basilica, Friday, Oct. 27. | Credit: Courtney Mares

Pope Francis Asks Mary’s Intercession in World Day of Peace Video

Jan 1, 2024

Pope Francis implores the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede for an end to human conflicts in a new video released on Jan. 1 for the World Day of Peace.

Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. | Vatican Media.

What countries did Pope Francis visit in 2023 and what did he say?

Dec 30, 2023

Despite advanced age and health challenges, the pope visited six countries on three continents in 2023.

A prayer meeting organized by the Taizé community. | Credit: Christian Pulfrich, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED, Wikimedia

Pope Francis Urges Young Adults at Taizé Event to "dare to build a different world"

Dec 29, 2023

The European Meeting is an annual ecumenical Christian event that hosts several thousand young adults from across the world to gather and pray in a host city.

Pope Francis meets with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023, their first meeting since the start of the full-scale war with Russia. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Speaks With Ukraine President about Peace Efforts

Dec 29, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the pontiff expressed “his wishes of peace — just peace for all of us” during the Dec. 28 phone call. 

More than 4,000 faithful attended the celebration of the Christmas Mass at the St. George Parish in the suburb of Edappally, India. | Credit: Anto Akkara

Papal Christmas Deadline Over Syro-Malabar Rift is Met, but Indian Archdiocese Simmers

Dec 28, 2023

Protests and disruptions to “unified” Masses mandated by the pope were observed around the archdiocese, but it remains if there will be consequences from the Vatican.

Pope Francis takes a figure of the Christ child in his arms at the end of the Vatican's Mass for the Nativity of the Lord on Dec. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

Jesus was Born to Save the World: Pope Francis at Christmas Mass

Dec 24, 2023

In his Christmas homily, Pope Francis shared a message for anyone who may be feeling sad or discouraged with a reminder that the Lord was born to save the world and to give us a hope that is greater than all of our problems.

Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. | Vatican Media

Full text: Pope Francis’ Homily for Christmas 2023

Dec 24, 2023

The full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.  

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience on Nov. 15, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis "deeply saddened" by Shooting at Prague University 

Dec 22, 2023

A 24-year-old student opened fire in the university’s philosophy department building after first killing his father outside of Prague. The gunman killed himself after the rampage.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, and Bishop Robert Barron. | Credit: Alan Koppschall/EWTN; ACI Africa; Courtesy of DeChant-Hughes Public Relations

More Bishops Voice Criticism, Support for Vatican Document on Blessing Same-sex Couples

Dec 21, 2023

Some bishops, including Cardinal Gerhard Müller and several bishops in Africa, have firmly denounced the Vatican’s document.

Credit: lunamarina/Shutterstock

Bishops Around the World Are Divided Over Vatican’s Same-sex Blessing Declaration  

Dec 20, 2023

Some bishops are welcoming the news, some are approaching it with caution, while others are outright refusing to implement it.

A blessing service at St. Augustin Catholic church in Würzburg, Germany, for couples, including those of the same-sex, May 10, 2021. | Credit: CNA Deutsch

TIMELINE: What Has the Catholic Church Said about Same-sex "blessings"?

Dec 20, 2023

Here’s a timeline of how the controversy over same-sex blessings has unfolded.

St. Peter's Basilica. | Credit: vvo/Shutterstock

Vatican Says Priests Can Bless Same-sex Couples Without Condoning their Lifestyles

Dec 18, 2023

The Vatican has issued new guidance on the topic of blessings of same-sex attracted people, stating that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. 

Pope Francis celebrates his birthday on Dec. 17, 2023, with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Celebrates 87th Birthday with Children Who Receive Aid from Vatican Clinic

Dec 17, 2023

Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday on Sunday morning ahead of his weekly Angelus by meeting with children and families who are assisted by the Vatican’s Santa Marta Pediatric Dispensary.

A member of the crowd in St. Peter's Square holds up a baby Jesus figure for a blessing by Pope Francis at his Sunday Angelus Dec. 17, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

"Only in God do we find the light of life": Pope Francis at Sunday Angelus

Dec 17, 2023

Pope Francis reflected on St. John the Baptist as a luminous figure who testifies to the light and teaches us that “only in God do we find the light of life” during his Angelus address Dec. 17 on the third Sunday of Advent, or Gaudete Sunday.

Pope Francis waves to pilgrims during his Angelus address on Dec. 17, 2023. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Condemns Reported Israeli Sniper Attack on Gaza Catholic Church

Dec 17, 2023

The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem reported that two women were shot by the IDF on Dec. 16.

Pope Francis at his general audience on Nov. 22, 2023. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Turns 87: One of the Oldest Popes in Church History

Dec 17, 2023

As the 266th successor of St. Peter to the papacy, Francis will be the oldest bishop of Rome since Pope Leo XIII, the oldest pope in history.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu. | Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA

Vatican Court Sentences Cardinal to 5 Years in Jail for Embezzlement

Dec 16, 2023

Five other defendants in the "Trial of the Century" received similar sentences.

Rev. Thomas Petri, O.P. is President of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. | Credit: EWTN News Nightly Dec. 14, 2023

Moral Theologian on New Cremation Guidance: "Reverence for body" Still Paramount

Dec 15, 2023

Catholic Church teaching on “reverence for the body” must still be at the center of any decisions related to a loved one’s ashes. 

Ana de Lobera y Torres (1545-1621), better known by her religious name Sister Ana de Jesús, helped expand the Discalced Carmelites to France and Belgium. Painting in the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites, Brussels, ca. 1650. | Credit: AnonymousUnknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Pope Francis Recognizes Miracle Attributed to St. Teresa of Ávila’s Spiritual Daughter

Dec 14, 2023

In a decree signed Dec. 14, Pope Francis authorized the beatification of Ana de Lobera y Torres, better known by her religious name Sister Ana de Jesús.

Pope Francis speaks at his general audience Dec. 13, 2023, in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis Says That He Wants to Be Buried in Marian Basilica in New Interview

Dec 13, 2023

Pope Francis has said that he wants to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome because of his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.