CNA/EWTN News Pope Francis has changed the rules for the Church’s traditional foot-washing ceremony on Holy Thursday, issuing a decree allowing women to participate in what has until now been a ritual officially open only to men. In a letter addressed to Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for …

Pope Francis will commission 800 priests worldwide to be Missionaries of Mercy during this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, including three priests from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Two of the three are from the Athenaeum, home of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s seminary. Father Anthony Brausch, who serves as Vice Rector and Director of …

Today marks the 79th birthday of Pope Francis. Now known and loved around the globe, just a few years ago the man born Jose Mario Bergoglio was a cardinal and Archbishop of Buenos Aires. While important to his See and his part of the world, as cardinal the man we …

By Matt Hadro CNA/EWTN News Catholic and Lutheran bishops have signed a declaration that they hope solidifies areas of “consensus” on matters of faith while providing a path forward for more dialogue. “Pope Francis in his recent visit to the United States emphasized again and again the need for and …

By David Agren Catholic News Service MEXICO CITY — Pope Francis will visit Mexico in February, marking the pontiff’s first trip to the heavily Catholic country, said Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City. Cardinal Rivera revealed the date Pope Francis would arrive in Mexico Feb. 12 during a homily Nov. …

By Elise Harris CNA/EWTN News On the Solemnity of All Saints, Pope Francis said the mark of true holiness is living each day as a child of God, imitating both Jesus and the saintly individuals we encounter in the ordinary moments of life. In his Nov. 1 Angelus address, the …

By Eileen Connelly, OSU The Catholic Telegraph Fifty-four seminarians, along with Father Benedict O’Cinnsealaigh, president and rector, and Father Tom McQuillen, dean of men, boarded a bus Sept. 22 and traveled through the night to Washington, D.C. The next day, the group will attended Mass celebrated by Pope Francis as …

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said an apostolic exhortation on the family following the recently concluded Synod of Bishops could be released soon. “I imagine that it won’t take long because usually these things should be done in a relatively short …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service The world expects all people of religious faith to work with everyone for a better future, Pope Francis told representatives of major religions. “We can walk together taking care of each other and of creation” in joint projects that fight poverty, war and corruption …

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — As disciples, Christians are called to imitate Jesus’ heart and lead others directly to him, without lecturing them, Pope Francis said. Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct.25 for the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops. The Mass concluded …