VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The powerful and violent cannot control, suppress or commodify God's grace, friendship and will to usher in a new dawn, Pope Leo XIV said."Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything. We see how the marketplace can turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling and beginning again into a mere business," he said, celebrating Mass […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With rain-slicked coats and rain-soaked feet, last-minute visitors did not let Rome's infamous winter deluges and damp stop them from their goal: to pray and pass through to the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica.With just a few hours to go before it closed to the public late Jan. 5, hundreds of pilgrims streamed nonstop into […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After praying the Sunday Angelus, Pope Leo XIV said he was following the developments in Venezuela with "deep concern," in light of the United States' military operation that led to the capture of President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend."The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration," the pope said Jan. 4 […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — An estimated 33 million visitors and pilgrims came to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year, exceeding early forecasts, officials said at a news conference at the Vatican Jan. 5.Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization's section for new evangelization and chief organizer of the 2025 Holy Year, said the figure is based on […]

WASHINGTON – Catholics nationwide are invited to pray “9 Days for Life,” an annual Respect Life novena starting Friday, January 16.In the Catholic Church, a ‘novena’ consists of prayers over nine successive days, and this particular novena is an opportunity for prayer and penance in observance of the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on January 22.All […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world is not saved by threatening violence or by judging, oppressing or getting rid of others, Pope Leo XIV said."Rather, it is saved by tirelessly striving to understand, forgive, liberate and welcome everyone, without calculation and without fear," the pope said during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The tenacious hope of people of faith, believing in a better tomorrow, keeps God's plan of salvation alive in the world, Pope Leo XIV said. They keep hope alive even though today, just like in the past, there are other kinds of plans unfolding, he said during an evening prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 31. They […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Close to 3 million pilgrims and visitors attended audiences, liturgies or meetings at the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV from the time of his election in May through December, according to the Prefecture of the Papal Household.The prefecture, which handles the free tickets to audiences and Masses, as well as arranges the pope's daily schedule of […]

ROME (CNS) — The path to conversion, the door to God's mercy and the call to live in Christian hope all continue beyond the Jubilee Year, said the three cardinals who closed the Holy Doors at three major basilicas in Rome.On the feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, Pope Leo will solemnly close the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For the world's 1.4 billion Catholics and for millions of other people as well, the Catholic Church's 2025 was primarily about the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV.In fact, the Wikimedia Foundation announced Dec. 2 that "Deaths in 2025" — an entry that includes Pope Francis — was their second most-read […]