Most days, John Van Hook works alone performing maintenance. After nearly three decades at St. Leonard Faith Community and eight more at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Centerville, he knows every corner of the church buildings. His days are filled with quiet service, such as setting up for weddings, …

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so …

The people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are invited to join Archbishop Robert G. Casey in remembering and praying for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. Four Memorial Masses for Pope Francis will be celebrated by Archbishop Casey throughout the archdiocese during thirty days of mourning. • Monday, …

Franciscan Spirituality flows from the experience of a single man, St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226). Son of cloth merchant Pietro Bernardone, St. Francis went from fighting for the values of wealth and fame to feeling contempt for those same values. After suffering for a year in an open pit prison …

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2023 / 07:00 am It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher. One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan …

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 Carl Bunderson Denver, Colo., Jul 28, 2023 / 07:00 am The feast of Our Lady of the Angels of Portiuncula and its associated indulgence is a way to focus on the importance of Mary and the Franciscan tradition in the Church, according to one friar. The Aug. 2 feast is …

By Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Dec 23, 2022 / 08:00 am It’s a well-known origin story: how the young and wealthy Francis of Assisi freely abandoned his noble patrimony to serve Christ’s Church as a poor, itinerant preacher. One of the world’s most beloved saints, the founder of the Franciscan order …

Father Arthur (Art) J. Espelage, OFM, 78, passed away Dec. 9 at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he was receiving Hospice Care. Born on Aug. 13, 1944, in Cincinnati, Father Art was one of six children of Arthur Sr. and Antoinette. He attended St. Bonaventure School in Cincinnati. With …

On Oct. 4, Roman Catholics celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the Italian deacon who brought renewal to the Church through his decision to follow Jesus’ words as literally as possible. In a January 2010 general audience, Pope Benedict XVI recalled this “giant of holiness” as a “great …