Q & A: Questions & Answers Regarding Pope Francis’s Motu Proprio Vos estis lux mundi
What does the new Motu Proprio do? The new Motu Proprio Vos estis lux mundi is a significant move forward for the universal Church, one that echoes many of the practices established in the U.S. Bishops’ Essential Norms and the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People that …
President of U.S. Bishops’ Conference Issues Statement on Pope Francis’s Motu Proprio Ordering Worldwide Response to the Evil of Sexual Abuse
May 9, 2019 WASHINGTON—Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued the following statement regarding the release of Pope Francis’s Motu Proprio earlier today. The Motu Proprio, Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), is …
Catholic officials call for prayer, action after Colorado shooting
IMAGE: CNS photo/Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic leaders are calling for prayer and action in response to the May 7 school shooting inside a charter school near Denver. One teenager died and eight other students were wounded. "Action is needed to …
‘Today God has answered their prayers’: Pakistan releases Asia Bibi
IMAGE: CNS photo/Asad Karim, Reuters By Simon Caldwell MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — Pakistani authorities freed Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman acquitted of blasphemy, and she has flown to Canada to join her family at a secret address. Her release was confirmed May 8 by Wilson Chowdhry of the British Pakistani …
Catholic minorities can still change the world, pope says at audience
IMAGE: CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God’s miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said. …
Catholic Thoughts: ‘Be who you are and be that well’
One of my favorite sayings is from St Francis de Sales: “Be who you are and be that well. So that you may bring honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.” It is good enough to just be yourself. In fact, God doesn’t want us to try to …
Today’s Video: Do You Want to Be Well?
Jesus asked the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be well?” It seems like an obvious question, but—as Fr. Mike explains—in order for this man to desire healing, he had to believe he could be healed. So many of us have given up on the …
Pope says study on women deacons was inconclusive
IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA (CNS) — The commission Pope Francis appointed to study the history and identity of women deacons did not reach a unanimous conclusion about whether deaconesses in the early church were "ordained" or formally "blessed," the pope …
Tolkien fan gets to direct a movie on his life
IMAGE: CNS photo/Fox Searchlight By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Dome Karukoski shared one critical, albeit sad, boyhood link with J.R.R. Tolkien: being fatherless. Karukoski, then 12 years old, grew enamored of Tolkien’s books. "I was bullied, without a father. I was alone, and those stories, they became friends to …
Update: Pope Francis called Jean Vanier to thank him before his death
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Jean Vanier Association By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM NORTH MACEDONIA (CNS) — Pope Francis told reporters May 7 he had been kept informed about Jean Vanier’s failing health and had phoned him a week before his death. "He listened to me, but he could …