By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 13:57 pm Before he was known as a soon-to-be-saint, Carlo Acutis was simply a boy in a school uniform, lugging his backpack through the hallways of the Tommaseo Institute in Milan. His teachers remember him as joyful, a bit of a prankster, …

By Francesca Pollio Fenton , Courtney Mares CNA Staff, Sep 3, 2025 / 04:30 am It’s official! On Sept. 7, Pope Leo XIV will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis together with Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as the first new saints of his pontificate. A gamer and computer coder who loved the Eucharist, Carlo Acutis will be …

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Aug 16, 2025 / 04:00 am Saturday, Aug. 16, marks Pope Leo XIV’s 100th day as pope. Since his May 8 election as the first pope born and raised in the United States, the 69-year-old Chicago native has already left his mark on a jubilee year …

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:05 am Pope Leo XIV encouraged people on Sunday to embrace the summer season as a time to deepen their relationship with God through silence, reflection, and time spent with others. “Summer can be a providential time to experience the beauty and …

By Courtney Mares Turin, Italy, Jul 16, 2025 / 08:45 am When alpine climber Edoardo Ricci clips into a harness or prepares for a steep ascent in the Alps, he says a silent prayer to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. “I think that I was saved by him,” Ricci said, recalling the …

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Jun 27, 2025 / 04:00 am Pope Francis’ 2024 encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is packed with testimonies from the saints of prayer and devotion to the heart of Christ throughout the centuries. Dilexit Nos, meaning “He Loved Us,” describes how devotion to the …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Jun 24, 2025 / 13:47 pm More than 2,500 seminarians from 57 countries converged on Rome this week to pray at the tomb of St. Peter, receive a blessing from Pope Leo XIV, and celebrate their vocations in the Jubilee of Seminarians. “Thank you for courageously …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, May 9, 2025 / 18:28 pm Americans gathered in St. Peter’s Square on May 8 to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff from the United States. Born Robert Francis Prevost on Chicago’s South Side, the 69-year-old Augustinian friar was chosen by the …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Apr 30, 2025 / 09:23 am The College of Cardinals on Wednesday called on Catholics around the world to pray for them as they prepare to enter the conclave next week to elect the next pope, acknowledging the “enormity of the task ahead” in choosing the …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Apr 27, 2025 / 08:00 am The unexpected death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday, April 21, postponed the much-anticipated canonization of Carlo Acutis, the Italian teenager who captivated a generation of young Catholics with his love of the Eucharist and passion for technology. Now, as …