Articles by Matthew Santucci
Ancient 40-hour ‘Quarantore’ devotion continues to bless Rome
Feb 14, 2024 / 10:50 amThe Quarant’Ore or Quarantore (“40 hours”) is an exposition and continuous devotion in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Pope Francis: Sloth is a ‘very dangerous temptation’ akin to apathy
Feb 14, 2024 / 09:50 amDuring his Feb. 14 Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis reflected on the human dimension of the vice of acedia, more commonly known as sloth.
Pope Francis: Technological development must promote the human being
Feb 13, 2024 / 09:30 amThe pope’s comments come as members of the Pontifical Academy for Life are meeting in Rome from Feb. 12–14 for their general assembly
Meeting between Pope Francis and Argentine president signals possible turn in relationship
Feb 12, 2024 / 12:30 pmPope Francis met with Argentine President Javier Milei in a highly anticipated private audience on Monday morning.
Pope Francis: Argentina’s first female saint shows us ‘the path of holiness’
Feb 9, 2024 / 11:41 amPope Francis met with Argentine pilgrims on Friday morning ahead of the historic canonization of the county’s first female saint on Sunday.
Pope Francis: ‘Without liturgical reform there is no reform of the Church’
Feb 8, 2024 / 11:45 amThe pope recalled Vatican II’s objective of renewing the Church’s “fundamental dimensions” such as “spiritual, pastoral, ecumenical, and missionary” work.
Pope Francis: To be ‘scandalized’ by gay couple blessings is ‘hypocrisy’
Feb 7, 2024 / 13:00 pmThe Holy Father this week again defended the Vatican’s controversial document authorizing blessings for same-sex couples.
Pope Francis: Sorrow is an ‘ailment of the soul'
Feb 7, 2024 / 09:17 amThe Holy Father warned that sorrow is “a constant affliction that prevents man from feeling joy at his own existence.”
Vatican worship dicastery’s meeting to focus on proper liturgical formation, implementation
Feb 5, 2024 / 15:10 pmThe Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments announced that its annual plenary assembly will be held Feb. 6–9 at the Jesuit Curia in Rome.
Pope Francis: ‘God is always close to us’
Feb 4, 2024 / 09:22 amThe pope observed today that Jesus, “after teaching in the synagogue, comes out so that the word he preached can reach, touch, and heal people.”
Pope Francis’ 2024 Lenten message: ‘Lent is a season of conversion, a time of freedom’
Feb 1, 2024 / 14:30 pmPope Francis has centered his Lenten message for 2024 on the Book of Exodus, choosing “Through the Desert God Leads Us to Freedom” as its main theme.
Holy See appoints third Chinese bishop in less than a week, signaling shift toward Beijing
Jan 31, 2024 / 16:53 pmFather Peter Wu Yishun was named the bishop of the Apostolic Prefecture of Shaowu (Minbei) in the third appointment of a bishop in China in just a week.
President of Taiwan joins Pope Francis in call for regulating AI
Jan 31, 2024 / 16:10 pmPresident of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen sent a letter to Pope Francis on Wednesday joining the pontiff in calling for greater regulation of artificial intelligence.
Pope Francis: Wrath is a vice that is ‘pervasive,’ ‘dark’
Jan 31, 2024 / 09:36 amPope Francis dedicated his Jan. 31 general audience to the subject of wrath, characterizing it as a vice that is “pervasive” and “particularly dark.”
Pope Francis: Blessings don’t require ‘moral perfection’
Jan 26, 2024 / 12:00 pmPope Francis on Friday offered guidance to members of the Vatican’s doctrinal office for dealing with matters of faith.
Pope appoints new bishop in China, bringing a 70-year vacancy to an end
Jan 25, 2024 / 16:40 pmThe Holy See Press Office announced on Thursday that Father Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng was appointed by Pope Francis as the bishop of Zhengzhou.
Abducted Haitian nuns released amid ongoing gang violence
Jan 25, 2024 / 11:00 amThe release of the six religious sisters, along with their two drivers, was confirmed to Vatican News by Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor.
Vatican appeals court sentences priest to prison for sexual abuse of teen
Jan 24, 2024 / 17:25 pmFather Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him between 2007 and 2012.
Pope Francis: Avarice is a ‘sickness of the heart, not of the wallet’
Jan 24, 2024 / 10:55 amIn his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis said the preoccupation with the accumulation of material goods reflects a greater “pathological accumulation.”
Finland: a laboratory of ecumenism and Christian unity
Jan 22, 2024 / 13:00 pmFinland is a traditionally Lutheran country, but in many ways it retains unique links with the Catholic tradition that has made ecumenical dialogue possible.