Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.

Articles by Hannah Brockhaus

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia holds up the reliquary with the liquefied blood of St. Januarius on the martyr bishop's feast day Sept. 19, 2023. The announcement that the blood had liquefied was made at the start of Mass in the Naples Cathedral by Abbot Vincenzo De Gregorio. Screenshot / YouTube channel Chiesa di Napoli

Blood of St. Januarius ‘completely liquefied’ on feast day

Sep 19, 2023 / 06:10 am

The blood “is not an oracle to consult and even less a city horoscope whose function is to predict misfortune or fortune for the city,” one archbishop said.

Pope Francis addressed pilgrims and tourists at his first outdoor general audience after the summer on Sept. 6, 2023. Vatican Media

Synod 2023: What has Pope Francis said about synodality?

Sep 17, 2023 / 13:15 pm

Synodality isn’t “a chapter in an ecclesiology textbook” or a “fad or a slogan to be bandied about in our meetings,” the pope has emphasized.

Pope Francis greets a delegation of Korean Catholics at the Vatican on Sept. 16, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Catholics in Korea called ‘to a burning faith’

Sep 16, 2023 / 12:31 pm

“With the prophecy of martyrdom, the Korean Church reminds us that we cannot follow Jesus without embracing his cross,” Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Mario Grech, who serves as secretary general of the global Synod on Synodality, speaks to EWTN Rome Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser for an exclusive interview that aired on EWTN on May 22, 2023. Credit: EWTN Vatican

Cardinal Grech shares blessing for Synod on Synodality to be given after Sunday Mass

Sep 15, 2023 / 12:50 pm

The general secretary of the synod has asked for prayers from all Catholics around the world for the upcoming session of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis met Maria Campatelli, director of the Aletti Center, at the Vatican on Sept. 15, 2023. The Aletti Center was founded in Rome by the former Jesuit priest Father Marko Rupnik. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis meets close collaborator of Rupnik

Sep 15, 2023 / 07:30 am

In June, Maria Campatelli published a letter defending Rupnik against “a media campaign based on defamatory and unproven accusations.”

Men process with the historic cross on the feast of the Holy Cross in Montemaggiore Belsito on Sept. 14, 2022. It is considered a great honor to be one of the people to transport the heavy float in which the cross is carried. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

One Sicilian town’s centuries-old devotion to the Holy Cross

Sep 14, 2023 / 02:30 am

For hundreds of years, the town of Montemaggiore Belsito has marked the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with a solemn procession.

The American actor and director Sylvester Stallone met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sept. 8, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis meets ‘Rocky’ actor Sylvester Stallone at Vatican

Sep 8, 2023 / 09:15 am

The “Rocky” actor met the pope in the Apostolic Palace together with his brother, his wife, and their three daughters.

"Stumbling blocks" in Rome, Italy. Plates inscribed with the name and dates of life of the victim of Nazi persecution. Shutterstock

Documents identify thousands of Jews hidden by Catholic religious during Nazi occupation of Rome

Sep 7, 2023 / 08:30 am

The newly rediscovered documentation references more than 4,300 people hidden by 100 women’s religious congregations and 55 men’s religious congregations.

Pope Francis meets with bishops of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the Vatican on Sept. 6, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Ukrainian Greek Catholic synod tells Pope Francis he has made ‘painful’ statements

Sep 6, 2023 / 11:23 am

“We expressed to the pope everything that our faithful in Ukraine and throughout the world entrusted us to convey to His Holiness,” the bishops said. 

Pope Francis spoke about his recent trip to Mongolia during the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 6, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Don’t overlook goodness because of scandal

Sep 6, 2023 / 03:06 am

“People, we too like scandal... But you don’t see the forest that is growing every day,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis greets Cardinal Luis Ladaria. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis thanks Cardinal Ladaria for years heading Dicastery for Doctrine of the Faith

Sep 5, 2023 / 09:33 am

On Sept 11, Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández will assume the position in Ladaria's place as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Missionaries of Charity came to greet Pope Francis during his trip to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Sept. 1-4. Colm Flynn/EWTN

Pope Francis at Mongolia charity: ‘Only love can overcome selfishness’

Sep 3, 2023 / 20:40 pm

Pope Francis blessed a new charity called the “House of Mercy” on his last day in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Members of the Ulma family at their home and farm. On March 24, 1944, all nine members of the Ulma family were killed by the Nazis for hiding a Jewish family in their home in Poland, including a child still in the womb. Credit: Father Witold Burda, postulator for the Ulma family

Beatification novena for family of 9 martyred by Nazis begins Friday

Aug 31, 2023 / 12:30 pm

All Catholics are invited to join in nine consecutive days of prayer leading up to the beatification of the Ulma family, who were killed in 1944.

Pope Francis delivers a Laudato Si' video message May 24, 2021. Screenshot

Pope Francis to release second Laudato Si’ on Oct. 4

Aug 30, 2023 / 08:47 am

The pope’s follow-up environmental document will be released on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis greets newly married couples at the general audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Aug. 30, 2023. Adi Zace/CNA

Pope Francis: St. Kateri Tekakwitha is an example of patience in suffering

Aug 30, 2023 / 05:23 am

“Kateri Tekakwitha’s life shows us that every challenge can be overcome if we open our hearts to Jesus,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis speaks at the general audience on Aug. 23, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis: People — not machines — are the value of work

Aug 29, 2023 / 11:05 am

He also said businessmen and businesswomen can contribute to the common good through job creation, especially for young people.

Pope Francis gives the weekly Angelus address on Aug. 27, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis asks for prayers as he travels to Mongolia, ‘the heart of Asia’

Aug 28, 2023 / 11:43 am

The pope will travel approximately 5,600 miles to Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian capital, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.

Pope Francis speaks about World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, during his weekly Wednesday audience in the Paul VI Hall Aug. 9, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis laments when ‘ideology replaces faith’ in segment of U.S. Catholics

Aug 28, 2023 / 09:36 am

The pope’s private conversation with members of the Society of Jesus was published Aug. 28 by the Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica.

Pope Francis gives the weekly Angelus address on Aug. 27, 2023. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis: ‘We cannot be indifferent’ to people caught in drug addiction

Aug 27, 2023 / 09:40 am

“Behind every addiction there are concrete experiences, stories of loneliness, inequality, exclusion, lack of integration,” Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo died at his home in Londrina, Brazil, on Aug. 26, 2023. Archdiocese of Londrina

Brazilian Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo dies at age 89

Aug 27, 2023 / 08:10 am

The cardinal’s health had been in decline since suffering a stroke in December 2022.