Posts Tagged
Courtney Mares
Pope Francis announces Year of Prayer to prepare for 2025 Jubilee

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Jan 21, 2024 / 10:00 am Pope Francis announced the start of a Year of Prayer on Sunday in preparation for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year. In his Angelus address, the pope said that a Year of Prayer starting on Jan. 21 will be “a …
Pope Francis responds to resistance to Fiducia Supplicans: ‘The Lord blesses everyone’

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Jan 15, 2024 / 09:37 am Pope Francis responded publicly to questions about the Vatican’s declaration on blessings for same-sex couples for the first time in a television interview on Sunday night. In an appearance on an Italian talk show on Jan. 14, the 87-year-old pope …
Vatican official says Church should allow married priests

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Jan 8, 2024 / 12:13 pm A Vatican official has said that he thinks the Catholic Church’s priestly celibacy requirement in the Latin rite should be revised. Archbishop Charles Scicluna, who serves as the archbishop of Malta and is an assistant secretary at the Vatican’s Dicastery …
Vatican responds to widespread backlash on same-sex blessing directive

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Jan 4, 2024 / 10:10 am The Vatican’s doctrine office issued a response on Thursday to “clarify the reception of Fiducia Supplicans” amid widespread international backlash to the Vatican’s recent declaration on same-sex blessings. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of …
Vatican announces art contest for Stations of the Cross to be displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Dec 29, 2023 / 07:00 am Attention Catholic artists: The Vatican has announced an art competition in which your paintings can be displayed inside of St. Peter’s Basilica along with the works of Renaissance masters Michelangelo and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The contest winner will get to …
Vatican doctrine office encourages single mothers to receive Communion after confession

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Dec 14, 2023 / 13:50 pm The Vatican’s doctrine office published a letter on Thursday confirming that single mothers can receive Communion after going to confession and urging the need for further “pastoral work” in parts of the world where single mothers might still face harsh …
Pope Francis says that he wants to be buried in Marian basilica in new interview

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Dec 13, 2023 / 10:10 am Pope Francis has said that he wants to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome because of his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In a new interview broadcast on the Mexican television program “N+” on …
Pope Francis says he has ‘very acute infectious bronchitis’

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Nov 30, 2023 / 08:15 am Pope Francis told health care professionals on Thursday that he has “very acute infectious bronchitis” and was advised not to travel to Dubai to avoid the extreme change in temperature. The pope, who will turn 87 on Dec. 17, quipped, …
Pope Francis’ health ‘stable’ despite breathing difficulties, Vatican says

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Nov 27, 2023 / 06:05 am Pope Francis’ lung inflammation has caused him some breathing difficulties, but his condition is stable and “clearly improving,” the Vatican said on Monday. The 86-year-old pope is being treated with antibiotics intravenously and is in “good and stable” condition without …
Bishop Barron in ‘frank disagreement’ with Synod on Synodality’s report on ‘development of moral teaching’

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Nov 24, 2023 / 11:45 am Bishop Robert Barron has said that he is in “frank disagreement” with the final report of the Synod on Synodality’s claim that advances in the sciences require an evolution in the Church’s moral teaching on human sexuality. In a reflection published this …