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. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.

Follow @catholicourtney

Articles by Courtney Mares

Pope Francis speaks at the general audience on June 22, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

The Vatican is asking Catholics to share their experiences of helping migrants and refugees

Jul 28, 2022 / 03:16 am

In a video message released on July 28 ahead of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis poses the question: “How can we foster an enriching encounter with migrants and refugees?”

Priest who offered Mass on inflatable lounge chair in sea: ‘I was perhaps imprudent’

Jul 27, 2022 / 06:33 am

After photos of a shirtless Italian priest celebrating Mass in the sea using an inflatable lounge chair went viral this week, the local Catholic archdiocese has called for liturgical decorum and respect.

A statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was carried in procession in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood on July 24, 2022. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

PHOTOS: Rome’s floating procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the Tiber River

Jul 26, 2022 / 08:17 am

Rome’s nine-day celebration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel culminated Sunday with a floating Marian procession in a boat down the Tiber River.

Pope Francis received an audience with President Mattarella on Dec. 16, 2021. Vatican Media

Pope Francis to Italian president: Italy faces ‘crucial choices for the life of the country’

Jul 23, 2022 / 07:00 am

Pope Francis sent birthday greetings to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and thanked him for his dedicated service amid "not a few difficulties."

Pope Francis prays with journalists on a papal flight August 14, 2014. Alan Holdren/CNA

Pope Francis entrusts Canada trip to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Jul 22, 2022 / 11:45 am

Pope Francis visited a Roman basilica on Friday to ask for the Virgin Mary's intercession and protection ahead of his week-long trip to Canada.

Mons. Fernando Ocariz. Opus Dei Communications Office via Flickr (CC BY NC SA 2.0).

‘To guard the charism’: In new decree, Pope Francis makes changes to Opus Dei

Jul 22, 2022 / 08:20 am

Pope Francis issued a document on Friday that changed the oversight of Opus Dei. It also decreed that its leader, the prelate, can no longer be a bishop.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, addresses the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on September 8, 2021. Nicholas Kamm /AFP via Getty Images

Cardinal Gregory restricts Traditional Latin Masses to three locations in DC archdiocese

Jul 22, 2022 / 08:00 am

The new policy also requires priests to seek permission to say Mass "ad orientem."

Pope Francis speaking in St. Peter's Basilica on June 5, 2022. Vatican Media

Pope Francis: The poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought

Jul 21, 2022 / 07:13 am

As Europe faces record high temperatures and summer wildfires, Pope Francis has pointed out that the poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought, and other environmental extremes.

Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa praying with young Catholics on the Mount of Beatitudes on July 19, 2022 Courtesy photo / Neocatechumenal Way

'Hope and Closeness' in the Holy Land: Patriarch Pizzaballa prays with Catholics on Mount of the Beatitudes

Jul 20, 2022 / 02:28 am

More than 8,000 young Catholics from the United States prayed together Tuesday on the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus is believed to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

Bishop Stephen D. Parkes Diocese of Savannah

Savannah diocese to end Traditional Latin Masses in May 2023

Jul 19, 2022 / 06:56 am

Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah has announced that Traditional Latin Masses in his Georgia diocese will cease in May 2023 at the request of the Vatican.

Among the victims of the Russian missile attack was a four-year-old girl with Down syndrome named Liza. null

Ukrainian Catholic bishops pray for victims of missile strike in Vinnytsia

Jul 16, 2022 / 07:30 am

Ukrainian Catholic bishops gathered in prayer together for the victims of a Russian missile strike on the city of Vinnytsia, which killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 200.

Father John Mark Cheitnum, left, and Father Denatus Cleopas, right. Photos courtesy of Archdiocese of Kaduna.

Two Catholic priests kidnapped in Nigeria

Jul 16, 2022 / 05:45 am

The Nigerian diocese of Kafanchan has asked for prayers after two Catholic priests were kidnapped Friday evening.

When is the right time to seek out Catholic marriage counseling?

Jul 7, 2022 / 06:03 am

“Do we need marriage counseling?” If you are asking the question, there’s a good chance that you would benefit from at least a few conversations with a Catholic counselor, this expert says.

Human rights advocates respond after Pope Francis says Vatican-China deal ‘moving well’

Jul 6, 2022 / 10:10 am

Human rights advocates have raised concerns about heightened restrictions on Christians in China after Pope Francis expressed hope that the Holy See’s agreement with Beijing will be renewed in the fall.

Pope Francis prays the Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace on July 3, 2022. Vatican Media/CNA

Pope Francis: Evangelization is not ‘personal activism’ but a witness of love

Jul 3, 2022 / 06:15 am

In his Angelus address, the pope posed a question: “How do we bring the good news of the Gospel to others?

Pope Francis celebrated Mass for Rome’s Congolese community in St. Peter's Basilica on July 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in the Congolese rite: ‘Peace begins with us’

Jul 3, 2022 / 04:10 am

The pope began his homily with the word, “esengo,” which means “joy” in Lingala, the Bantu-based creole spoken in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.