Ann Schneible

Ann Schneible

Articles by Ann Schneible

Are we less free than a 1950s housewife? A look at contraception

Jun 8, 2017 / 01:58 am

What started as a means to liberate women seems to have taken an ironic twist.

A Medieval devotion alive and well for a handful of modern Romans

Apr 14, 2017 / 00:51 am

In the hours after evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, a few pilgrims in Rome make their way to the Church of Saint Praxedes, home to a fragment of stone alleged to be the pillar upon which Jesus was scourged.

Why I wear the habit – a nun's reflection on religious life

Dec 26, 2016 / 10:02 am

As Pope Francis' year dedicated to consecrated life comes to a close, one nun shared her thoughts on the how her religious garb serves as a “visible sign” that God exists and loves every person.

The Marian Shrine of Walsingham and Christian pilgrimage

Sep 2, 2016 / 02:02 am

For more than 950 years, pilgrims have been making their way to a small medieval village in England's Norfolk region to visit the site of a Marian apparition and what is believed to be the oldest shrine to Our Lady in the world.

Pope prays for massacre victims in DRC

Aug 15, 2016 / 02:59 am

Pope Francis marked the feast of the Assumption of Mary by praying for the dozens of people massacred over the weekend in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and decrying the “shameful silence” which surround these attacks.

Don't be held back: Pope calls Christians to be set ablaze by the Holy Spirit

Aug 14, 2016 / 02:37 am

The Church does not need “cold or lukewarm Christians” who are held back by fear, Pope Francis said Sunday; it needs Christians who are on fire with the Holy Spirit and committed to proclaiming the Gospel, even if it costs them their lives.

Pope sends condolences to victims of Pakistan hospital attack

Aug 9, 2016 / 03:43 am

Pope Francis offered his condolences to those affected by the “senseless and brutal” attack against a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, which left dozens dead and over a hundred injured.

Meningitis death of World Youth Day pilgrim prompts health alert

Aug 2, 2016 / 09:09 am

The Italian bishops' conference has issued an advisory to pilgrims, after a young Italian girl died of meningitis while she was returning home from World Youth Day in Poland.

Pope creates commission to study women deacons

Aug 2, 2016 / 04:21 am

Pope Francis has instituted a new commission for the study of women deacons, the Vatican announced Tuesday.

Pope Francis disagrees with identifying Islam as violent

Jul 31, 2016 / 14:37 pm

Pope Francis has questioned the claim that Islam should be identified with violence, in contrast to the Islamic State militant group, which he says is a fundamentalist sect of the religion.

How Pope Francis thinks you should prep for WYD in Panama

Jul 31, 2016 / 12:54 pm

How can young people prepare for the next World Youth Day, Pope Francis asks? Remember the past, be courageous in the present, and have hope for the future.

Pope to young people: Not one of you is insignificant

Jul 31, 2016 / 02:19 am

Our true identity cannot be lived out in glum negativity, but only in the knowledge that, in God's eyes, our value cannot be measured; no one is insignificant. Pope Francis made these remarks on Sunday to at least 1.5 million young people gathered in Krakow for the final Mass of World Youth Day (WYD).

Pope Francis tells 1.6 million young people to avoid 'sofa happiness'

Jul 30, 2016 / 11:30 am

Pope Francis challenged massive crowds of young people at World Youth Day's final vigil to step away from the “sofa” of comfort and convenience, and respond to Christ's call to transform a suffering world.

Pope to priests and religious: Don't be content with mediocrity

Jul 30, 2016 / 03:24 am

During Mass celebrated at the shrine of St. John Paul II in Krakow, Pope Francis challenged the priests, religious, and seminarians present in the congregation, saying true disciples are not content with mediocrity, but rather they rejoice in the mission of evangelization.

Heroism and sacrifice: The Catholic history of Auschwitz

Jul 29, 2016 / 11:20 am

Pope Francis sat quietly in one of Auschwitz's most ominous prison cells, praying in what had been the inhumane living space of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest martyred during the Holocaust.

The Pope's powerful words at a children's hospital in Poland

Jul 29, 2016 / 08:48 am

Pope Francis paid a visit to the patients of a children's hospital in Krakow on Friday, where he stressed the need for social and political concerns to center on the needs of society's most disadvantaged.

At Auschwitz, Pope prays for God's forgiveness

Jul 29, 2016 / 04:40 am

Pope Francis paid a solemn visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps on Friday, where over a million people are believed to have lost their lives. At the memorials, he gave no speech and prayed in silence, but instead wrote in the guest book two simple lines begging for God's mercy and forgiveness.

Don't waste your life seeking 'empty thrills', Pope tells youth

Jul 28, 2016 / 10:58 am

For young people who have given up on life, or who waste their existence seeking out “empty thrills,” Pope Francis proposes an alternative: Look to Christ, for only he can bring lasting fulfillment.

The humble speak for God, Pope says at Czestochowa

Jul 28, 2016 / 03:44 am

Those who embrace their own littleness become the “spokespersons” of God, Pope Francis said during Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, celebrating the 1050 anniversary of Poland becoming a Christian nation. It was the first major event of the Pope's trip to the country for the 31st World Youth Day.

Pope condemns 'absurd violence' after priest is killed in French church

Jul 26, 2016 / 06:27 am

Pope Francis has decried the “absurd violence” which has left an elderly priest dead after his church in northern France was taken hostage during Mass.