The Jubilee has always been an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church. Ever since 1300, when Boniface VIII instituted the first Holy Year – initially celebrated every hundred years, then, following its biblical precedent, every 50 years, and finally every 25 years …

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — On Pope Francis’ 88th birthday, two major newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean published two different excerpts from his new book on hope. The New York Times published the pope’s words on the importance of humor as a “guest essay” in its opinion section, …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2024 / 09:25 am The Catholic bishops of New Mexico this week articulated a strongly worded statement against a policy of mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants, a policy that President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to enact. “A mass deportation policy will not fix the broken …

On the evening of Tuesday, December 24, Pope Francis will preside over the celebration of Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square to officially open the Holy Jubilee Year of 2025, the theme of which is Pilgrims of Hope. The Holy Father begins his solemn Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary …

By AC Wimmer CNA Newsroom, Nov 27, 2024 / 10:45 am U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Pope Francis on Wednesday morning at the Vatican. While the Holy See did not comment on the nature of the audience, the State Department said discussions focused on ongoing conflicts in the …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Nov 25, 2024 / 12:45 pm Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati’s intercession on Monday, paving the way for his canonization as a saint during the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth next summer. Frassati, who died at the age of 24 …

By Daniel Payne CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 16:20 pm Two bottles of rare bourbon signed by Pope Francis are projected to net up to $20,000 for several Kentucky charities. Father Jim Sichko, a priest in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, and a papal Missionary of Mercy, told CNA that the …

By Tyler Arnold Washington D.C., Nov 20, 2024 / 08:00 am The unresolved question of whether life exists on other planets continues to spark curiosity from the public and the interest of scientists — but one Catholic physicist working on missions to search for potential life also recognizes it as an …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Nov 9, 2024 / 06:00 am For the first time in over a century, the historic Chair of St. Peter, a wooden throne symbolizing the pope’s magisterial authority, has been removed from its gilded bronze reliquary in St. Peter’s Basilica to be displayed for public veneration. …

By Jonathan Liedl Rome Newsroom, Oct 27, 2024 / 07:00 am On Saturday, Pope Francis made the unprecedented decision to accept the final document from the Synod of Synodality as authoritative Church teaching. The 52-page text includes a theological reflection on the nature of synodality, which it says is the fulfillment of the reforms of Vatican II, …