arts & culture
How love of travel became a spiritual mission for Peter Bahou of Peter’s Way Tours
With a deep-rooted faith and a passion for connecting people to these holy sites, Peter Bahou’s journey from a student with a love for adventure to the driving force behind a unique travel experience is one of inspiration.
Liturgical music can teach value of unity in diversity, pope says
The liturgical music tradition of polyphony with its blend of melodies and harmonies should lift people’s spirits as it subtly transmits a message about diversity and unity, Pope Leo XIV said.
Iconic Sacre-Coeur Basilica in Paris celebrates its 150th birthday
The famed Sacré-Coeur, or Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which Émile Zola called a “stone host placed on the open wound of the city,” celebrates the 150th anniversary of the laying of its first stone.
Father Rupnik’s mosaics disappear from Vatican News
In a quiet but powerful move, Vatican News has begun removing artwork by Father Marko Rupnik — the once-renowned mosaicist now accused of abusing over two dozen women — from its website. His mosaics, long used to mark major feast days online, were recently replaced or left blank — a shift many survivors say is long overdue.
Video of Brazilian nuns beatboxing goes viral, boosts interest in their ministry
A video of Brazilian nuns beatboxing and dancing hip-hop, a scene taken from a local TV show and defined by celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg as “a real life ‘Sister Act,'” went viral on May 28, with millions of views all over the world.
Vatican gardeners plant botanical reproduction of pope’s coat of arms
Workers spent about two weeks planting and rearranging evergreens, flowers and plants to complete a gigantic botanical reproduction of Pope Leo’s shield on the sloped lawn in front of the Vatican’s governing office.
Chicago-style hotdogs, pizza, the White Sox just a few of new pope’s Windy City faves
As details of Pope Leo’s past life come to light one thing, many are struck by his Chicago roots and his Chicago-ness.
Termite damage is latest challenge Alabama cathedral has withstood in its 175 years
The Archdiocese of Mobile announced April 25 that engineers have deemed the west end of the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception as unsafe due to extensive termite damage.
Pilgrims venerating ‘holy tunic’ of Jesus in France pray for cardinals in Rome
As cardinals gather in Rome ahead of the May 7 conclave, thousands of pilgrims are flocking to the Basilica of St. Denis in Argenteuil, France, to venerate what’s believed to be the holy tunic of Jesus — the seamless robe described in the Gospels.
Lessons of suffering in the ‘Stabat Mater’
What the “Stabat Mater” conveys, the sorrows of Mary witnessing the crucifixion of her son, is worth pondering.