VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The 135 cardinals eligible to elect the next pope will enter the Sistine Chapel to begin the conclave May 7, the Vatican announced. The cardinals will first celebrate the "Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff" in St. Peter's Basilica that morning before processing into the Sistine Chapel that evening.The Vatican Museums announced that the Sistine […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mercy — the cornerstone of Pope Francis' teaching and ministry — must guide the Catholic Church through its period of mourning and the uncertainty that lies ahead, the Vatican's second-ranking official said.Celebrating Mass April 27 for the second day of the "novendiali" — nine days of mourning for the late pope marked by Masses — Cardinal […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For thousands of young teens who traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Teenagers, the announcement of Pope Francis' death came as a shock.For many, the joy of commemorating the Jubilee Year dedicated to hope was suddenly mingled with grief at the loss of the pontiff, who passed away April 21, and uncertainty about how it […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis was "a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone," said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the pope, who died April 21 at the age of 88.And the people — an estimated 200,000 of them — were present as 14 […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Francis was elected as the first Latin American pontiff, he said his brother cardinals went out of their way to pick someone from the "ends of the earth."He spent the rest of his pontificate going back out to those peripheries, traveling to more than 65 nations, preferring those that were poor, scarred by war, […]

ROME (CNS) — The casket bearing the body of Pope Francis made its final journey through the streets of Rome accompanied by applause and shouts of gratitude from thousands of mourners.After the funeral Mass April 26, pallbearers carried Pope Francis' coffin through St. Peter's Basilica, stopping briefly at the steps leading to St. Peter's tomb before placing it on a […]

ROME (CNS) — "The Virgin Mary told me, 'Prepare the tomb.'" That is what Pope Francis said Mary told him when he was discerning whether to be buried in the historic Marian church where his body will be laid to rest April 26. Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major, discussed the pope's decision to be […]

WASHINGTON – According to a new survey, nine in ten men who will be ordained to the priesthood this year were encouraged to consider this vocation by someone in their life. Three-quarters of them regularly participated in Eucharistic Adoration before entering the seminary.  “Encourage a young man to consider the priesthood or to attend Eucharistic Adoration; he could be your […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Benedictine abbot and a Capuchin cardinal will offer spiritual meditations on the needs of the Catholic Church to the cardinals preparing to elect a new pope, according to the Vatican press office.Benedictine Father Donato Ogliari, abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, will offer the first meditation soon after Pope Francis' funeral April […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Given the late Pope Francis' care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial."The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God," the Vatican press office said in a statement April 24. It was the […]