by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jul 22, 2020 / 08:30 am MT (CNA).- A Spanish teenager with an intellectual disability received an encouraging letter from Pope Francis after walking the Camino de Santiago this month. Álvaro Calvente, 15, walked the traditional pilgrimage route with his father and a family friend. …

by Courtney Mares Vatican City, Jul 20, 2020 / 04:10 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy published instructions Monday on reforming parishes and restructuring dioceses to better serve their “singular mission of evangelization.” The 24-page document is called “The pastoral conversion of the parish community in the service …

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Jul 18, 2020 / 04:36 am MT (CNA).- A fire at a historic cathedral in western France Saturday morning has been contained, according to the local fire chief, though not before the Gothic church’s great organ and rose window sustained severe damage. Fire Chief Laurent …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jul 16, 2020 / 07:00 am MT (CNA).- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued Thursday a manual to help bishops and dioceses follow Church procedure in respect to accusations of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric. The vademecum, released …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jul 16, 2020 / 04:20 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday named Bishop Edward C. Malesic of Greensburg, Pa, to lead the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland, he fills the vacant see left by Archbishop Nelson Perez’s appointment to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jun 21, 2020 / 06:41 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis on Sunday encouraged Christians to fear sin, not the hostility, violence, or persecution they may face when sharing the Gospel with the world. “Jesus advises these disciples of yesterday and today who suffer persecution: ‘do …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jun 20, 2020 / 05:04 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis has approved the inclusion of three additional invocations in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Litany of Loreto. In a June 20 letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences, Cardinal Robert …

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, Jun 19, 2020 / 08:45 am MT (CNA).- The trustees of the Pontifical Irish College decided last week that the national seminary in Rome will no longer host men studying for the priesthood in Ireland, beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year. The decision was taken …