By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Oct 28, 2023 / 18:30 pm The Synod on Synodality, the monthlong assembly convened by Pope Francis at the Vatican, released its final document containing the discussion of several hot-button issues which it calls “controversial”: the idea of women deacons, optional priestly celibacy, and the accompaniment …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Oct 25, 2023 / 12:35 pm Pope Francis reaffirmed the impossibility of women becoming priests, or even modern Church deacons, in an interview for a book released Tuesday in Italy. The question of whether some women in the early Church were “deaconesses” or another kind of …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Oct 8, 2023 / 08:45 am Pope Francis and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem have responded to the sudden outbreak of conflict in Israel and Palestine over the weekend. The pope said at the end of a public address on Sunday he is following the violence …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Sep 14, 2023 / 02:30 am In northern Sicily, 15 miles from the sea and nestled in the foothills of the Madonie mountain range, lies the town of Montemaggiore Belsito. Though the town’s population, once mostly farmers, has declined to under 3,000, it boasts no fewer …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Sep 8, 2023 / 09:15 am Pope Francis received U.S. actor and director Sylvester “Sly” Stallone at the Vatican on Friday morning. The “Rocky” actor met the pope in the Apostolic Palace together with his brother, actor and musician Frank Stallone; his wife, Jennifer Flavin; and …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Aug 31, 2023 / 12:30 pm An archdiocese in Poland is encouraging Catholics to join them in nine days of prayer leading up to the beatification of a family martyred by the Nazis in 1944. Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children were executed by …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Aug 28, 2023 / 09:36 am In a conversation with Jesuits in Portugal at the beginning of August, Pope Francis commented on a “climate of closure” in the United States, which he said sometimes replaces faith with ideology. “You say you have felt a climate of …

By Hannah Brockhaus Lisbon, Portugal, Aug 6, 2023 / 03:35 am The next World Youth Day will be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027, Pope Francis announced at the conclusion of the final Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. “The next World Youth Day will be in …

By Courtney Mares, Hannah Brockhaus, Daniel Ibañez Rome Newsroom, Aug 6, 2023 / 16:15 pm On his return flight from World Youth Day on Sunday, Pope Francis explained why he opted to skip reading a prayer in Fatima that consecrated the Church and “countries at war” to the Blessed Virgin Mary. When asked …

By Hannah Brockhaus, Jonathan Liedl Vatican City, Jul 26, 2023 / 05:51 am Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport to lead Iowa’s Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque. Zinkula, 66, has led the Davenport Diocese in southeast Iowa since 2017. The Archdiocese of Dubuque has been run by an apostolic …