By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Dec 5, 2019 / 10:40 am (CNA).- Ahead of the Vatican Christmas tree lighting Dec. 5, Pope Francis expressed hope that the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square will serve as a reminder of what Christmas is truly about. A nativity scene “is a genuine …

By Courtney Mares Vatican City, Dec 1, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- This Advent, choose prayer and charity over consumerism, Pope Francis said Sunday in his first Mass of the liturgical year. “Resist the dazzling lights of consumption, which will shine everywhere this month, and believe that prayer and charity …

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Dec 3, 2019 / 10:03 am (CNA).- Pope Francis said Tuesday that disabled people make important contributions to humanity, and called discrimination against them a sin. The pope added that disabled people are not members of humanity’s minor “leagues.” “We are called to recognize in …

Pope Francis has written an Apostolic Letter on the meaning and importance of the nativity scene. He signed the Letter during his visit on Sunday afternoon to the Italian town of Greccio. By Vatican News Greccio is the mountain village where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first crib scene …

Washington D.C., Nov 7, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops’ conference issued Thursday a statement responding to a recent book which the conference says perpetuates a myth that it is resistant to Pope Francis. Austen Ivereigh’s “Wounded Shepherd” was published Nov. 5 by Henry Holt and Co. The …

Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World Dear Brothers and Sisters, For the month of October 2019, I have asked that the whole Church revive her missionary awareness and commitment as we commemorate the centenary of the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud of Pope Benedict XV …

Greetings fellow Evangelizers/Missioners, Pope Benedict XV wrote a powerful missionary letter, Maximum Illud, just after the horrendous First World War in 1919 urging the world to instill the love and hope of Christ and to avoid nationalist aims that had proved so disastrous. He called for the end of emphasizing …

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for 2019 Entrusted to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) OCTOBER A Missionary “Spring” in the Church That the breath of the Holy Spirit engender a new missionary “spring” in the Church.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for 2019 Entrusted to the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) JULY The Integrity of Justice That those who administer justice may work with integrity, and that the injustice which prevails in the world may not have the last word.

We applaud the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the new document, given motu proprio, i.e. on the pope’s own initiative, titled “Vos estis lux mundi” (“You are the light of the world”). The decree establishes new universal Church law for the crimes pertaining to sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. …