Catholic News

Pope Francis’ pontificate was consecrated Monday to the protection of the Virgin Mary, during a Mass held at the Shrine of Fatima.  The Mass was celebrated at the shrine by the cardinal patriarch of Lisbon, José da Cruz Policarpo, together with 37 bishops and 290 priests, and attended by some 300,000 people.  A...

For the first time ever, the Holy See will be present at the 55th International Art Exhibition in Venice. The event, which is organized by la Biennale di Venezia, will be open to the public from Saturday, June 1st to Sunday, November 24th, 2013. At a press conference today, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president o...

A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty Monday of three counts of first-degree murder. His crime was not seeking to kill the three babies, as abortion is legal in Pennsylvania through the 24th week of gestation, but killing them once they had already been removed from their mothers' wombs.  He was also fo...

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university. Q: I am a Catholic priest who believes that by sacred ordination what a validly ordained priest blesses is blessed. There is no half-way blessing. What is blessed is sacred and s...

It was during a consistory called to declare the canonization of saints that Benedict XVI chose to announce his resignation. Last Sunday, these saints were canonized, among them 800 martyrs: Antonio Primaldo and his companions. Saint Antonio Primaldo was a 15th century tailor and townsman of the southern Italian ...

Here is a translation of the prayer by which Cardinal José da Cruz Policarpo, patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal, consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima the pontificate of Pope Francis. Monday was the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima. The consecration was made at the end of Mass for the feast at the Fatima shrine. * * * ...

On May 15th, the Confederation of Family Organizations in the European Union, COFACE, will present a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels will present a conference on the declining fertility rate in the European continent. The event is based on the organizations new book on the demographics entitles, “...

To prepare for the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2014, several pro-family organizations have organized a meeting at the European Parliament on May 15th entitled “Balancing Family Life and Work” in order to raise awareness of the anniversary in the European Union. Among the organizati...

Xt3.com, a Catholic social networking site started by the Archdiocese of Sydney, has launched an interactive countdown calendar to help pilgrims prepare for World Youth Day (WYD) 2013 in Rio de Janeiro. The online calendar will feature daily reflections for World Youth Day pilgrims, as well as for those who canno...

The second annual Fortnight for Freedom will take place from June 21 to July 4, and will consist of national and local efforts to educate Americans on challenges to religious liberty both at home and abroad.  Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the US bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty,...

Pope Francis presided over the first canonizations of his pontificate at a Mass in St. Peter's Square on Sunday. With 802 canonizations, he raised to the altars the largest number of saints to be simultaneously canonized in the history of the Church. Those declared saints were Mother Laura Montoya, the first sain...

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, along with Archbishop Angelo Becciu, substitute for General Affairs presented to Pope Francis the 2013 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, with is the annual directory of the Holy See, as well as the “Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae”, which is the Church’s ...

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A bishop from northern Nigeria says President Goodluck Jonathan’s government is reluctant to fight the Boko Haram terrorist threat for fear of losing crucial votes in the upcoming elections. Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of Yola accused the government of lacking the will to crackdown on Boko Haram and other militant ...

Here is Archbishop Eamon Martin's address from Thursday at the closing of a novena in the parish of Saint Patrick, Roden Place, Dundalk, in the Archdiocese of Armagh. The archbishop was ordained coadjutor archbishop of Armagh on April 21.  The theme was "The Eucharist, Communion with Christ and with one another."...

Some 40,000 people are estimated to have gathered in Rome on Sunday to participate in the March for Life, including some notable figures from the United States pro-life movement. The March began Sunday morning outside the Colosseum and concluded at Castel San Angelo. Many of the marchers continued on to Saint Pet...