In his collection of connected short stories, The Things They Carried, author Tim O’Brien drives the narrative arcs of his characters – American soldiers in the Vietnam War – by listing inventories of the things they carried in their backpacks, pockets, helmets and utility belts. The soldiers don’t talk about …

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Mar 4, 2021 / 07:20 am MT (CNA).- Iraqi Catholics have asked Pope Francis to bless a statue of the Virgin Mary that was desecrated by the Islamic State. The Marian statue was decapitated in the Christian village of Karamles, between Mosul and Erbil, during …

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Feb 11, 2021 / 08:00 am MT (CNA).- On the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the papal delegate for the Marian shrine urged masked pilgrims and virtual viewers alike not to lose hope in the face of sickness and difficulties. “Lourdes is the place …

What’s the big deal with Catholics and the Virgin Mary? Do they worship her or just pray to her? What’s the Annunciation? What’s the Immaculate Conception? What’s the Assumption? All these questions and more answered in TWO Minutes!

Vatican City, Dec 8, 2020 / 06:20 am MT (CNA).- The Immaculate Conception is “one of the wonders of the story of salvation,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Tuesday. Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the pope encouraged …

by Mary Farrow Denver Newsroom, Dec 1, 2020 / 02:55 pm MT (CNA).- For the past 16 years, Elf on the Shelf has become a tradition, both hated and loved, for families in the days leading up to Christmas. Based on a book and accompanying doll, the elf is a …

by Christine Rousselle Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 11, 2020 / 03:29 am MT (CNA).- Benedictine College had a problem. After students returned to campus for the fall semester, 38 of them tested positive for COVID-19. And while none of the students who tested positive had serious symptoms or required hospitalization, …

In this feast, particularly cherished by the Popes of modern times, we celebrate Mary as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Pope Pius XII in the Papal Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam proposed the traditional doctrine on the Queenship of Mary and established this feast for the Universal Church. Pope Pius …

by Carl Bunderson New York City, N.Y., Aug 2, 2020 / 03:18 am MT (CNA).- Today’s feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Porziuncola and its associated indulgence is a way to focus on the importance of Mary and the Franciscan tradition in the Church, said one friar. The …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jun 20, 2020 / 05:04 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis has approved the inclusion of three additional invocations in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Litany of Loreto. In a June 20 letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences, Cardinal Robert …