In a visit with few if any precedents, Pope Francis met with the Russian ambassador to the Holy See this morning to express concerns about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
What do my prayers for Ukraine achieve? Is this about convincing God to intervene or softening my own heart so I can suffer with my Ukrainian brothers and sisters?
The vast majority of young, self-identified Catholics describe themselves as at least slightly spiritual and religious—but they practice their faith in ways that might not be familiar to older believers.
Christians must persevere in generously doing good in the world, bolstered by prayer and by fighting evil in their own lives, including an addiction to digital media, Pope Francis said.
“Do not allow the humanity, the human sin of the church to blot out who it is that we believe in and who [it is that] comes to us, Jesus Christ,” Bishop Shelton said in a recent conversation with Gloria Purvis.
As Russia fired missiles on several Ukrainian cities and Russian troops reportedly landed in Odessa, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church affirmed the right of Ukrainians to defend their homeland.
To be a creature is to have an origin, one we neither fashioned nor chose. To be a child of God is to have a destiny, one we freely choose, a gift we are given to cherish.
Dr. Paul Farmer was world-renowned for his medical achievements, but he also had a profound impact on friends and colleagues who saw him as a person of great holiness.
Members of one of his former communities said they doubt that he used incorrect formulas for sacraments while he worked there, and many of them recall him fondly as one of the most important priests in their lives.
In his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis spoke against a “culture of waste” that relegates the elderly to the sidelines and discourages young people from learning the wisdom of older generations.
“Jesus taught us that the diabolical senselessness of violence is answered with God's weapons, with prayer and fasting,” the pope said as the situation continued to deteriorate between Russia and Ukraine.
A “just war” in Ukraine would be a catastrophe for all parties. But a “just peace” framework that recognizes the root causes of the conflict can bring the U.S., Russia and Ukraine to a mutually beneficial outcome.
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of Charleston, South Carolina, and named as his successor Scalabrinian Father Jacques E. Fabre.
With the “further escalation of tension in Ukraine,” the president of the Polish bishops’ conference asked Polish Catholics to continue praying for peace, but also to be prepared to welcome Ukrainian refugees.
Few expected that the waters off Ireland’s southwestern coast would become a potential front in a confrontation with the Russian Federation. But that is exactly what happened at the end of January.
Pope Francis has confirmed that members of the Fraternity of St. Peter may continue to celebrate the Mass, sacraments and Liturgy of the Hours using the pre-Vatican II texts and forms, the fraternity said.