Ukrainian Marine to pope: Mariupol ‘what hell on earth looks like’ April 19, 2022By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News A Ukrainian Marine commander pleaded with Pope Francis to do everything to save the city of Mariupol, which is close to being captured by Russian forces.
Light of risen Christ dispels darkness of fear, pope tells young people April 19, 2022By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News, Youth Ministry Young people should not allow the darkness of fear to overwhelm them and instead allow the light of Easter to illuminate their lives and give them courage, Pope Francis said.
Temptation of power, money can obscure Easter joy, pope says April 19, 2022By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Easter, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The allure of power and money can be used to proclaim falsehoods and obscure the joyous announcement of Christ’s victory over death, Pope Francis said.
German bishop responds to letter criticizing Synodal Path April 19, 2022By Barb Fraze Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Synodality, World News The head of the German bishops’ conference responded to an open letter from more than 70 bishops from four continents and expressed surprise at some of what they said — and did not say.
Cardinal Gregory urges reflection on ‘weighty moral question’ of capital punishment April 19, 2022By Richard Szczepanowski Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, Social Justice, World News Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington venerated the cross of Jesus and urged the faithful to “consider carefully the impact that capital punishment has on us as a society.”
Christ’s resurrection brings hope amid ‘Easter of war,’ pope says April 17, 2022By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Easter, Feature, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.
Risen Christ brings peace to broken world, pope says at Easter Vigil April 16, 2022By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Filed Under: Easter, Feature, News, Vatican, World News he joy of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead gives joy and strength to those who are called to bring peace, reconciliation and justice to the suffering and the downtrodden, Pope Francis said.
Ukraine’s Way of the Cross: Papal almoner prays at mass grave April 16, 2022By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Easter, Feature, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News Mass graves and the deceased still lying along the roadside became a kind of “Way of the Cross” where Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, stopped and prayed.
Ukrainian, Russian women hold cross together at Rome’s Via Crucis April 15, 2022By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Lent, News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News Jesus invites everyone to repent and to turn swords into plowshares and missiles into factories and homes, the papal preacher said.
Before washing prisoners’ feet, pope tells them God always forgives April 14, 2022By Cindy Wooden Filed Under: Feature, Lent, News, Vatican, World News Before washing the feet of 12 inmates, Pope Francis told them and other prisoners that God never tires of forgiving anyone who asks.
Church’s mission is not about numbers, but evangelizing, pope says April 14, 2022By Cindy Wooden Filed Under: Evangelization, Feature, News, Vatican, World News The Catholic Church in Europe and other places will, as retired Pope Benedict XVI had said, be smaller and less influential, but the church’s mission and joy is not to increase numbers but to share the Gospel, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Malta.
For Catholics, first in-person chrism Mass in two years is like a reunion April 14, 2022By Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, Lent, News, World News For many U.S. dioceses, this year marked the first chrism Mass to draw a capacity crowd of congregants since before the pandemic. For the last two years, COVID-19 turned most in-person liturgies into livestreamed events.
