Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.

Articles by Courtney Mares

On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis asks priests to weep over their sins

Mar 28, 2024 / 09:30 am

Pope Francis encouraged the priests to turn their gaze upon the crucified Lord and weep over their sins in repentance, saying tears can “purify and heal the heart.”

Cardinal leads Holy Week prayer vigil for recently martyred Christians

Mar 27, 2024 / 10:45 am

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, presided over the vigil on March 26 in St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island.

Pope Francis to offer Mass in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square

Mar 25, 2024 / 11:45 am

The 87-year-old pope will travel by helicopter from Vatican City to Venice in under two hours and will land on Giudecca Island, home to Venice’s women’s prison.

Pope Francis gives thanks to young Nigerian priests and nuns who answered God’s call

Mar 25, 2024 / 09:30 am

In a meeting with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, the pope said that he was grateful for all that Nigerian Catholics have done to bear witness to the Gospel.

Pope Francis to young people: ‘Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!’

Mar 25, 2024 / 08:51 am

“Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” Pope Francis wrote in a letter to young people signed on March 25.

Pope Francis prays for victims of Moscow terrorist attack at Palm Sunday Mass

Mar 24, 2024 / 11:52 am

Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of the “vile terrorist attack” in Moscow at the end of his Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican.

Pope Francis on Palm Sunday: Jesus entered Jerusalem as a humble king

Mar 24, 2024 / 09:45 am

Pope Francis chose not to read the homily prepared for Palm Sunday Mass at the last minute without explanation.

Pope Francis: God’s glory does not correspond to human success

Mar 17, 2024 / 09:07 am

Pope Francis said Sunday that God’s glory and our true happiness are not found in success, fame, or popularity but in loving and forgiving others.

Vatican seeks to break new ground in Confucian and Christian dialogue

Mar 13, 2024 / 15:00 pm

The Vatican sponsored a dialogue in Taiwan this week as the Catholic Church prepares to release official guidelines for engagement with Confucianism.

Vatican’s Venice Biennale pavilion leads visitors in Catholic tradition of visiting prisoners

Mar 11, 2024 / 11:18 am

Visitors will enter an active women’s prison on Venice’s Giudecca island, where inmates will play an active role in the exhibition of works by nine artists.

Pope Francis: We have a duty to help women accept the gift of life

Mar 10, 2024 / 09:30 am

Pope Francis said Sunday that governments and civil society have a fundamental duty to help ensure that women are able to accept the gift of life.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ relics carried in procession for 750th anniversary of his death

Mar 7, 2024 / 14:00 pm

Bishop Mariano Crociata led the procession to honor the medieval philosopher and theologian widely considered one of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization.

Pope Francis appoints American priest to role in Vatican’s highest court

Mar 5, 2024 / 11:40 am

Monsignor Shane L. Kirby has been named the substitute promoter of justice of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Pope Francis urges ‘an immediate cease-fire in Gaza’ that frees hostages, grants aid 

Mar 3, 2024 / 09:25 am

In his Angelus address on March 3, the pope made an emotional plea for a deal that both frees the hostages and grants humanitarian aid.

Here is Pope Francis’ schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2024 at the Vatican

Feb 29, 2024 / 12:10 pm

The schedule includes five papal liturgies, Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum, and other traditions to mark the most sacred week of the year.

Relic of martyr killed by Mafia to be used in prison ministry in Naples

Feb 29, 2024 / 09:15 am

The relics of Blessed Rosario Livatino, a Catholic judge brutally killed by the mafia in 1990, will be brought to a prison in Naples on Saturday.

Pope Francis visits hospital for diagnostic tests after Wednesday audience

Feb 28, 2024 / 07:43 am

“Dear brothers and sisters, I still have a bit of a cold,” Pope Francis said in a soft-spoken voice on Feb. 28.

PHOTOS: Restoration of Bernini’s baldacchino begins in St. Peter’s Basilica

Feb 27, 2024 / 09:00 am

Workers will scale the scaffolding surrounding the 92-feet-high canopy each day to meticulously clean the dust and grime that has darkened the baldacchino.

Pope Francis cancels Saturday audiences due to a mild flu, Vatican says

Feb 24, 2024 / 07:46 am

The cancellation comes after Pope Francis concluded a five-day Lenten retreat at his Vatican residence.

Pope Francis launches study groups to analyze Synod on Synodality’s key issues

Feb 17, 2024 / 10:01 am

The Vatican announced Saturday that Pope Francis has launched synodal study groups to analyze key issues ahead of October’s Synod on Synodality assembly.