by Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, Feb 14, 2021 / 02:00 am MT (CNA).- When most people think of romantic love, a third-century skull crowned with flowers probably does not spring to mind — nor the story behind it. But a visit to an unassuming Byzantine basilica in Rome might change …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Feb 8, 2022 / 04:57 am Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Bishop Shelton Fabre to lead the Archdiocese of Louisville in Kentucky. Fabre, who has been bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana since 2013, succeeds Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, who submitted his resignation to …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 26, 2021 / 04:10 am On the Feast of the Holy Family, Pope Francis encouraged married couples to rely on the strength of Christ and his graces as they weather the storms of life together. In a letter to spouses Dec. 26, Pope Francis wrote that …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 26, 2021 / 06:50 am Pope Francis on Sunday sent his condolences for the death of retired Anglican Archbishop and anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu. Tutu, who fought for an end to racial segregation in his native South Africa, died Dec. 26 at the age …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 18, 2021 / 04:36 am The Vatican issued Saturday further strict guidelines on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, in response to questions about the motu proprio Traditionis custodes. The explanatory document, which bans confirmations and ordinations according to pre-Vatican II Roman Missals, was published …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 17, 2021 / 01:00 am “There is only one thing that really makes us age, grow old interiorly: not age, but sin,” Pope Francis said in 2017, during a speech about the Virgin Mary. As Francis turns 85 on Dec. 17, his ninth birthday …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 13, 2021 / 06:00 am The Vatican’s liturgy office on Monday issued a rite and guidelines for the institution of lay catechists in the dioceses of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis created the lay ministry of catechist in May with the release of the motu proprio Antiquum …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Nov 28, 2021 / 06:52 am On the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis reminded Christians that an essential ingredient for living an alert and joyful life is prayer. “Be awake, guard your heart,” the pope said in his message before the Angelus Nov. 28. …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Nov 9, 2021 / 04:50 am The Vatican on Tuesday announced that the canonization of Bl. Charles de Foucauld and six others will take place in Rome on May 15, 2022. The date of the canonization had been delayed due to the uncertainty of the …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Oct 29, 2021 / 06:25 am Pope Francis met Joe Biden on Friday, in the U.S. president’s first official visit to the Vatican since his inauguration. Biden, the second Catholic president in U.S. history, is in Rome to attend the G20 summit taking place on …