by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Mar 15, 2021 / 05:22 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican’s doctrinal office on Monday clarified that the Catholic Church does not have the power to give liturgical blessings of homosexual unions. Answering the question “does the Church have the power to give the blessing to …

by Andrea Gagliarducci Vatican City, Mar 12, 2021 / 06:01 pm MT (CNA).- A new letter from the Vatican Secretariat of State has banned the private celebration of Masses at side altars in St. Peter’s Basilica, effective March 22. The regulation might seem tailored to meet COVID restrictions, as Italy …

Vatican City, Mar 8, 2021 / 12:00 pm MT (CNA).- The Vatican COVID-19 Commission called on Monday for the Catholic Church and governments to increase support for women suffering from violence amid the coronavirus crisis. In a seven-page document released March 8, International Women’s Day, the commission said that the …

by Jessica Rinaudo It’s not every day that the apostolic nuncio, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S., visits Cincinnati. But in November, Father Earl Fernandes, his former assistant at the nunciature, invited him to make the trip to Southwestern Ohio from Washington, D.C. During his visit, Archbishop Christophe Pierre took …

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter celebrates the papacy and St. Peter as the first bishop of Rome. St. Peter’s original name was Simon. He was married with children and was living and working in Capernaum as a fisherman when Jesus called him to be one of the …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jan 12, 2021 / 09:00 am MT (CNA).- The Vatican gave guidance Tuesday about how priests can distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a note Jan. 12, directing priests to …

by Andrea Gagliarducci Vatican City, Jan 25, 2021 / 07:56 pm MT (CNA).- Increasing rumors from multiple Vatican sources say the Vatican communications department might experience a shakeup shortly, and that Pope Francis might try a new redesign of the dicastery that handles Vatican media. On Jan. 16, Paolo Ruffini, …

by Andrea Gagliarducci Vatican City, Jan 23, 2021 / 03:01 pm MT (CNA).- Earlier this month the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples sent a letter to the bishops of some 1,100 Catholic territories and announced the gradual reduction of the financial support they regularly receive from the Vatican. Since …

by Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jan 15, 2021 / 12:40 pm MT (CNA).- The United States ambassador to the Holy See, Callista Gingrich, met with Pope Francis Friday as she prepares to leave Rome in tandem with the end of Donald Trump’s presidency. She will leave the post Jan. 20 …

by Andrea Gagliarducci Vatican City, Jan 14, 2021 / 05:45 pm MT (CNA).- Pope Francis might soon choose a new Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, to replace Cardinal Angelo Comastri, who turned 77 in September. His replacement, according to Vatican observers, may bring a broader generational change that could involve …