By Jonah McKeown, Kate Olivera CNA Staff, Oct 4, 2023 / 04:00 am In the Italian town of Gubbio, some 130 miles north of Rome, sits the church of San Francisco della Pace — the Church of St. Francis “of the Peace.” The church is large and old, and its white stone exterior is …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Sep 28, 2023 / 11:41 am Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts football team, announced this week that he is donating $5 million to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago in honor of his late cousin, Sister Joyce Dura. Irsay, a billionaire businessman who grew …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Sep 29, 2023 / 09:00 am The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) on Mount Graham in southern Arizona celebrated its 30th anniversary this month, and the observatory has several days worth of celebrations planned for this weekend.  The VATT is a relatively recent extension of the Vatican Observatory, which has roots …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Sep 26, 2023 / 14:50 pm Most people are likely aware — at least vaguely — that J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” was Catholic. Fewer, perhaps, know how seriously he took his faith, in a time and place …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Sep 21, 2023 / 04:00 am Sept. 21 marks the feast day of St. Matthew, also known as Levi, an apostle of Jesus and, according to tradition, the author of one of the four Gospels. Surprisingly little is known for certain about Matthew’s life, even though his Gospel …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, Sep 20, 2023 / 14:32 pm A monthlong nationwide college tour by Vice President Kamala Harris, meant in part to promote the expansion of abortion under law, has prompted repudiation from pro-life advocates. The tour, announced Sept. 7, is aimed at bringing together “thousands of students for high-energy, …

By Jonah McKeown, Zelda Caldwell Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 15, 2023 / 16:40 pm After hitting their lowest recorded levels since the start of the pandemic in early summer, COVID-19 cases have begun to increase again, raising the specter of new mask mandates and recalling the early days of the pandemic, when …

By Jonah McKeown St. Louis, Mo., Sep 6, 2023 / 07:45 am Jimmy Buffett, for years an iconic purveyor of beach-themed soft rock, died Friday, Sept. 1, after living with Merkel cell skin cancer for four years. He was 76. The “Margaritaville” singer was raised Catholic, though he did not — …

By Jonah McKeown St. Louis, Mo., Aug 21, 2023 / 15:45 pm The devastating wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui earlier this month continue to cause misery for the island’s residents. As of Monday morning, more than 1,200 formerly missing people have been located, with about 850 still missing, the …

By Jonah McKeown St. Louis, Mo., Aug 17, 2023 / 14:15 pm A new initiative from the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, aims to bring pilgrims to every corner of the state to visit its many adoration chapels. Dubbed the “Eucharistic Passport Pilgrimage,” the diocesan initiative is modeled after the Nebraska Passport, a project …