Articles by Courtney Mares
Pope Francis says he is coming to Iraq as ‘a pilgrim of peace’
Mar 4, 2021 / 04:00 amA day before he departs for Baghdad, Pope Francis sent a video message to the Iraqi people, saying that he was coming to Iraq as “a pilgrim of peace.”
Christians and Muslims alike welcome Pope Francis' trip to Iraq
Mar 3, 2021 / 14:00 pmIraqi Christians and Muslims alike have expressed excitment for Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to Iraq, an aid worker based in Erbil told CNA this week.
How Pope Francis used a donated Lamborghini to help rebuild Iraqi Christian communities
Mar 3, 2021 / 06:15 amChristians in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains were able to rebuild a nursery school and other facilities destroyed by the Islamic State thanks to a custom Lamborghini auctioned off by Pope Francis.
Pope Francis appoints new bishop of US Virgin Islands
Mar 2, 2021 / 07:00 amPope Francis appointed Mgsr. Jerome Feudjio on Tuesday to lead the Diocese of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Pope Francis prays for children suffering from rare diseases
Feb 28, 2021 / 07:00 amPope Francis prayed Sunday for children suffering from rare diseases that they may feel “the caress of God’s love and tenderness.”
Pope Francis: The Lord does not permit darkness to have the last word
Feb 28, 2021 / 05:30 amPope Francis said Sunday that it is important to remember when facing a difficult trial that the “Lord is Risen and does not permit darkness to have the last word.”
Pope Francis says seeing a psychiatrist helped him with anxiety when he was younger
Feb 27, 2021 / 08:30 amPope Francis has said that seeing a psychiatrist in Argentina helped him with anxiety when he was a younger priest in an interview published in an Argentine newspaper Saturday.
St. Dominic entrusted this Marian icon to nuns in Rome 800 years ago
Feb 27, 2021 / 06:00 amEight hundred years ago, a barefoot St. Dominic carried an icon of the Virgin Mary across Rome to entrust the Marian image to a new community of cloistered nuns, who have safeguarded the icon within the walls of their convent to this day.
Where is Pope Francis going in Iraq and why? A CNA Explainer
Feb 25, 2021 / 12:00 pmIn a week’s time Pope Francis is expected to make history by becoming the first pope to travel to Iraq. Here is where he will be going -- and why.
Bishop: Mozambique’s persecuted Christians living an ‘experience of the cross’
Feb 25, 2021 / 09:01 amCatholics living in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province have lived an “experience of the cross” amid the escalation of terrorist violence over the past three years, recounts their former bishop.
Pope Francis praises ‘exemplary witness’ of Italian ambassador killed in Congo
Feb 24, 2021 / 04:15 amPope Francis expressed his condolences on Tuesday after three people were killed in an attack on the United Nations convoy traveling in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Former Vatican ambassador in Baghdad looks ahead to Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq
Feb 23, 2021 / 09:00 amWhen Cardinal Fernando Filoni served as the papal nuncio in Iraq in the early 2000s, he remained in Baghdad amid bombings and suicide attacks.
From Pius XI to Pope Francis: A history of Spiritual Exercises at the Vatican
Feb 22, 2021 / 07:00 amFor nearly 100 years, popes have set aside time for an annual retreat and meditation on spiritual exercises.
Pope Francis gives Roman Curia 17th-century text as Lenten reading
Feb 19, 2021 / 05:00 amPope Francis has given each member of the Roman Curia a book to include in their spiritual reading for their Lenten retreat this year.
Founder defies Vatican order to leave ecumenical community
Feb 18, 2021 / 13:00 pmEnzo Bianchi has defied a Vatican order to leave the ecumenical monastery he founded in 1965.
‘Offer the light of the Gospel’: Tehran’s new Catholic archbishop is ordained
Feb 18, 2021 / 12:00 pmA Franciscan friar was ordained archbishop of Tehran-Isfahan this week and commissioned to “offer the light of the Gospel” in Iran.
Authorities in Belarus stall Catholic charity initiative to help low-income families
Feb 17, 2021 / 12:00 pmA decision by the authorities in Belarus has left a Catholic charity unable to pursue an initiative aimed at helping poor families.
Holy Week 2021: Vatican issues guidelines for Catholics amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions
Feb 17, 2021 / 07:00 amThe Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued guidelines on Wednesday for the celebration of Holy Week this year in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq comes as country faces ‘multiple crises’
Feb 17, 2021 / 06:05 amPope Francis’ trip to Iraq comes at a time when the country faces severe political, socioeconomic, and security challenges. The European Union’s ambassador to Iraq has called Iraq’s current overlapping crises “the perfect storm.”
Vatican diplomat: The empowerment of women will contribute to peace and security
Feb 15, 2021 / 10:17 amA Vatican diplomat said Monday that the advancement of more women in leadership positions in public life will contribute to peace and security.