Why do Catholics wave palms on Palm Sunday, wash each other’s feet on Holy Thursday, or kiss the cross on Good Friday?

At a prayer vigil for peace in Rome at the beginning of Holy Week, Cardinal Dominique Joseph Mathieu, Archbishop of Teheran, appeals for peace for all war-torn regions, with a special plea for the Middle East and the Holy Land. By Valerio Palombaro The urgent call for peace in a …

Pope Leo XIV will preside over the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Friday, 3 April, during the traditional Good Friday liturgy commemorating the journey of Jesus to Golgotha. The meditations have been written by Franciscan Father Francesco Patton. Vatican News Pope Leo XIV will preside over all …

A deadly attack has left at least 11 people dead and several others injured following an attack by suspected gunmen in Gari Ya Waye community, Angwan Rukuba, served by Nigeria’s Archdiocese of Jos. Credit: hyotographics/Shutterstock By ACI Africa March 30, 2026 at 1:36 PM ET JOS, Nigeria — At least 11 …

The National Catholic Register contacted all 175 Latin-rite territorial dioceses in the United States, seeking numbers of people planning to join the Catholic Church at Easter 2026. College-age converts receive the sacrament of confirmation at St. Mary’s Catholic Center, Texas A&M, Easter 2024. | Credit: Courtesy of St. Mary’s Catholic …

For priests in crisis Let us pray for priests going through moments of crisis in their vocation, that they may find the accompaniment they need and that communities may support them with understanding and prayer.

Join Archbishop Robert Casey for a fun and faith-filled evening at Catholic Family Night at Day Air Ballpark in Dayton on Friday, April 10, 2026. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown by Fr. Brian Phelps of Our Lady of Light Family of Parishes with Fr. Jason Bedel of St. …

In his Palm Sunday meditation in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, recalls that just as Jesus wept over Jerusalem for failing to recognize peace, He “weeps” today over a world, especially the Holy Land, still marked by conflict, suffering, and missed opportunities for …

The announcement came after the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the custos of the Holy Land were restricted from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday. Holy sites stand out in Jerusalem on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. | Credit: Father Anthony Wieck, SJ By Souhail …

INTO YOUR HANDS | Archbishop Robert G. Casey Consider the tomb. Think about a tight, closed-off space without the fresh air of a new day. Consider the cold, stagnant darkness of that space, with no possibility of seeing the first light of a sunrise. Think about the lifeless silence that …