Caritas, Jubilee USA present Holy Year debt-relief project December 23, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News A key part of a jubilee in the Bible was releasing prisoners, and Catholics today can join a global campaign to press for the release of thousands of people imprisoned in poverty because of their nations’ foreign debt, said an official of Caritas Internationalis.
Pope, suffering a cold, focuses on mothers and children before Christmas December 23, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer from inside the chapel of his residence because of a cold, Pope Francis nevertheless blessed the baby Jesus figurines children and adults will put in their Nativity scenes — and he brought one of his own as well.
Catholics, Methodists called to spread hope, pope says December 18, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations, News, Vatican, World News The upcoming celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea is a reminder to Christians that “we profess the same faith, and thus have the same responsibility of offering signs of hope that bear witness to God’s presence in the world,” Pope Francis told leaders of the World Methodist Council.
Vatican chooses prisons as starting point for Jubilee art projects December 17, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Arts & Culture, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, an award-winning poet, believes art can heal people, including prisoners, and can help them find the right path forward.
Nativity scenes are reminder of Lord’s love and tenderness, pope says December 16, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Making his customary visit to the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before his trip to the French island of Corsica, Pope Francis also met and prayed with dozens of actors staging a living Nativity scene.
Pope says there’s no religious justification for Russia’s war on Ukraine December 16, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, War in Ukraine, World News In a letter to his nuncio in Russia, Pope Francis called out those who would claim Russia’s war on Ukraine had any spiritual justification.
Vatican registers Italian LGBTQ+ group for Holy Year pilgrimage December 13, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News An Italian association for LGBTQ+ Christians, their parents and the priests and religious who minister with them is among the many groups registered to make a pilgrimage together through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Pope, Palestinian president meet at Vatican December 12, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News As the fighting in Gaza drags on, Pope Francis welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican.
Hope is an ‘active virtue’ that makes good things happen, pope says December 11, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News The “most beautiful gift” the Catholic Church and its members can give the world is a reason to live with hope, Pope Francis said.
Amid Christmas and Jubilee preparations, prepare your hearts, pope says December 9, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Christmas, Feature, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News With the city of Rome presenting a gauntlet of major roadworks and construction projects ahead of the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis used the disruptions as an opportunity to encourage people to do some spiritual renovation before the jubilee.
Patient diplomacy, cooperation hold hope for suffering world, pope says December 9, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Environment, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Climate change, war, immigration and other global challenges can only be resolved with the input and cooperation of the entire global community, Pope Francis told a group of new ambassadors to the Holy See.
New cardinals from 17 nations are called to build church unity, pope says December 7, 2024By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, Vocations, World News Becoming a cardinal is an insistent call to put Jesus at the center of one’s life, to love the poor as he did and to strengthen the bonds of unity within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said as he created 21 new cardinals from 17 nations.
