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

Pope Francis is sending Cardinal Krajewski to Ukraine on a humanitarian mission

Jun 22, 2023 / 10:05 am

This will be the cardinal’s sixth visit back to Ukraine, this time to bring aid to Kherson amid floods.

Pope Francis advances the sainthood cause of Fatima’s Sister Lucia

Jun 22, 2023 / 04:30 am

Lucia, who was 10 years old at the time of the 1917 Marian apparitions, outlived the other visionaries by decades, surviving until age 97.

Investigation opened into alleged abuse by Paris Foreign Mission Society priests

Jun 21, 2023 / 11:45 am

The French bishops’ conference said the official investigation has come at the request of the superior general of the Paris Foreign Mission Society.

PHOTOS: Vatican Library showcases first-edition works by Blaise Pascal

Jun 21, 2023 / 09:15 am

On the 400th anniversary of the birth of Blaise Pascal, the Vatican Library displayed first editions of some of his most famous works.

Pope Francis appoints new permanent observer to the UN in Geneva

Jun 21, 2023 / 08:37 am

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero most recently served as the apostolic nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Synod on Synodality: Your questions answered

Jun 20, 2023 / 12:00 pm

The Vatican released a new document on June 20 outlining key questions for the upcoming 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. 

Synod on Synodality document outlines discussion questions for October assembly

Jun 20, 2023 / 06:30 am

“Discernment” topics include women deacons, priestly celibacy, and greater decision-making by the “People of God.”

Pope Francis names Cardinal Ghirlanda to succeed Cardinal Burke as Order of Malta patron

Jun 19, 2023 / 10:06 am

The Vatican announced June 19 that the 80-year-old Jesuit cardinal will take on the role as the “Cardinalis Patronus.”

John Kerry meets Pope Francis at the Vatican for a fourth time

Jun 19, 2023 / 07:45 am

Pope Francis met with U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry at the Vatican on Monday.

Pope Francis publishes apostolic letter on Blaise Pascal

Jun 19, 2023 / 05:45 am

Pope Francis published an apostolic letter on Monday praising the 17th-century mathematician Blaise Pascal as “a tireless seeker of truth.”

Pope Francis makes first public speech since hospitalization for abdominal surgery

Jun 18, 2023 / 05:25 am

The 86-year-old pope smiled and waved from the window of the Apostolic Palace as he gave thanks for prayers and messages he received.

UN Security Council discusses Pope Francis and imam’s human fraternity proposal

Jun 15, 2023 / 08:22 am

The secretary-general told the council June 14 to look to the human fraternity declaration signed by the pope and grand imam in 2019 as “a model.”

Vatican: Pope Francis’ doctors plan to discharge him from hospital ‘in the next few days’

Jun 14, 2023 / 07:30 am

The 86-year-old pope is currently recovering in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital one week after he underwent a three-hour surgery for an incisional hernia.

Pope Francis laments the spiritual poverty in a culture that leads to teen suicides 

Jun 13, 2023 / 10:00 am

While continuing his recovery in the hospital, Pope Francis called attention to cultural changes that lead people to stop caring for others.

Here’s what the Portuguese want you to know about St. Anthony of Padua before World Youth Day

Jun 13, 2023 / 01:00 am

The famous Franciscan saint was not born where most people assume he was. In August, World Youth Day participants can visit his real hometown.

Pope Francis praying and working from hospital

Jun 12, 2023 / 10:15 am

The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis is working from the hospital as he recovers from hernia surgery.

Pope Francis sends condolences after death of Silvio Berlusconi

Jun 12, 2023 / 09:45 am

The Italian billionaire media baron died on June 12 at the age of 86. He was Italy’s longest-serving head of government.

PHOTOS: Eucharistic procession in the Vatican Gardens on Corpus Christi

Jun 12, 2023 / 05:00 am

Corpus Christi is a 700-year-old feast in the Catholic Church that commemorates the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Pope Francis sends message from hospital to European political party

Jun 11, 2023 / 05:10 am

In a letter to the European People’s Party, the pope urged politicians to be united on “issues where primary ethical values ... are at stake.”

Pope Francis is recovering in same hospital room where John Paul II was treated

Jun 8, 2023 / 08:20 am

Pope Francis is recovering from abdominal surgery this week in the same hospital room where St. John Paul II was treated throughout his pontificate.