Articles by Courtney Mares
Flooding damages St Mark's Basilica in Venice
Oct 31, 2018 / 12:29 pmSaint Mark’s Basilica in Venice flooded with nearly three feet of water this week, damaging part of the 1,000 year old marble mosaic floor inside.
Pope Francis calls faithful married love 'revolutionary'
Oct 31, 2018 / 03:48 amFaithful married love, in which a husband loves his wife like Christ loves the Church, is “revolutionary,” Pope Francis said Wednesday.
Pope Francis ends synod, calls final document 'work of the Holy Spirit'
Oct 28, 2018 / 10:00 amThe 167 paragraph text on young people, the faith, and vocational discernment was voted on paragraph by paragraph Saturday, following nearly a month of discussion on the topic.
Pope Francis prays for victims of synagogue shooting
Oct 28, 2018 / 06:53 am“May the The Most High welcome the dead in his peace, comfort their families and support the wounded,” Pope Francis said Oct. 28.
Synod letter to young people: Our sins must not be an obstacle for your trust
Oct 28, 2018 / 05:36 amIn a letter read out at the synod closing Mass, bishops wrote to young people “our frailties and sins must not be an obstacle for your trust.”
Youth synod final document addresses 'all types of abuse'
Oct 27, 2018 / 15:37 pmThe prevention of sex abuse and abuse in all its forms is a topic of the 2018 Synod of Bishops’ final document, which says the right formation of educators and youth is a key first step.
Be proactive on sex abuse in Asia, Malaysian bishop tells synod
Oct 26, 2018 / 10:00 amCatholic leaders in Asia need to be proactive in implementing preventative sex abuse policies, a bishop from Malaysia told the 2018 Synod of Bishops.
Synod bishops and youth delegates pray together along medieval pilgrimage route
Oct 25, 2018 / 12:00 pmAs the 2018 Synod of Bishops draws to a close, young people and bishops walked together along a medieval pilgrimage route to the tomb of St. Peter.
Cameroon bishop says Africa offers synod an example
Oct 24, 2018 / 11:00 amWhile European bishops discuss how to bring young people back to the Church at the 2018 Synod of Bishops, one bishop from Cameroon said that he has the opposite problem.
Pope Francis: Marriage prep should be more than a few parish meetings
Oct 24, 2018 / 02:57 amIn his general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis said that engaged couples require “careful preparation” for the lifelong fidelity that marriage requires.
Congressman asks House to protect religious minorities in Iraq
Oct 23, 2018 / 11:00 amCongressman Jeff Fortenberry introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Oct. 5 a security resolution intended to protect religious minorities in northern Iraq.
Young people pray for St. John Paul II’s intercession during youth synod
Oct 23, 2018 / 05:03 amThe adoration holy hour on Saint John Paul II’s feast day included meditations on the pope’s Gospel reflections in St. Lawrence in Piscibus, a church which St. John Paul II rededicated as a youth center in the 1980s.
'What is a youth?' A synod glossary
Oct 22, 2018 / 09:16 amThe 15th ordinary Synod of Bishops is meeting now to discuss young people, the faith, and vocational discernment. Many have referred to this nearly month-long meeting as the “Youth Synod.” This raises a question: What is a youth?
Synod bishop: 'John Paul II guided me through my youth'
Oct 22, 2018 / 07:43 amOn the feast of Saint John Paul II, one synod bishop reflected on how the Polish pope inspired generations of young people, including himself, to pursue holiness.
Global Catholic tech: Online Arabic catechetical program unites Middle East Catholics
Oct 21, 2018 / 12:00 pmA bishop from Lebanon shared at the 2018 Synod of Bishops how his online catechesis program in Arabic has helped him to unite young Catholics across the Middle East.
Pope Francis & South Korean president pray for peace
Oct 18, 2018 / 08:45 amSouth Korea’s President Moon Jae-in met with Pope Francis today after praying for peace on the Korean peninsula in St. Peter’s Basilica. The visit marked the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Seoul and the Vatican.
Hacking pastoral care: Youth synod bishops talk technology
Oct 17, 2018 / 17:00 pmSmartphone apps and Skype have transformed the way at least one synod bishop conducts his pastoral ministry with young people.
Tiananmen Square to St. Peter’s Square: Who are the Chinese bishops at the synod?
Oct 17, 2018 / 07:40 amWeeks after his excommunication was lifted last month as a part of an agreement between China and the Holy See, Bishop Guo garnered attention in Rome as one of the first Chinese bishops to ever participate in an ecclesial synod, along with Bishop Yang Xiaoting of Yan'an.
Pope Francis at canonization Mass: 'Jesus is radical'
Oct 14, 2018 / 04:19 am"Jesus is radical,” Pope Francis said in his homily at the canonization of Pope Paul VI, Oscar Romero, and five other new saints. “He gives all and he asks all: he gives a love that is total and asks for an undivided heart,” the pope told the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 14.
Bishop Barron at Synod of Bishops: Young people are ‘hungry for mission’
Oct 12, 2018 / 09:17 amYoung people are “hungry for mission,” Bishop Robert Barron said Friday during the 2018 Synod of Bishops, convened to discuss young people, the faith, and vocational discernment