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Vatican doctrine office releases note on discerning the validity of the sacraments

Feb 3, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The new document signed by Pope Francis and Cardinal Victor Fernández is titled “Gestis Verbisque,” or “Deeds and Words.”  Read more

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Pope Francis’ 2024 Lenten message: ‘Lent is a season of conversion, a time of freedom’ 

Feb 1, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Pope Francis has centered his Lenten message for 2024 on the Book of Exodus, choosing “Through the Desert God Leads... Read more

The Vatican announced the erection of the Weifang diocese on Jan. 29, 2024, the day of the consecration of the diocese’s first bishop, Bishop Anthony Sun Venjun.

Pope Francis creates ‘new’ diocese in China, accepting borders drawn by Beijing

Jan 29, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis established the diocese on April 20, 2023, “in the desire to promote... Read more

Pope Francis delivers the Sunday Angelus from the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, Jan. 28, 2024.

Pope Francis: ‘The devil always takes away your freedom’

Jan 28, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis encouraged people to learn how to “say ‘no’ to the temptations of evil before they creep into the... Read more

Pope Francis meets with members of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024.

Pope Francis: Blessings don’t require ‘moral perfection’

Jan 26, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Pope Francis on Friday offered guidance to members of the Vatican’s doctrinal office for dealing with matters of faith. Read more

Pope Francis gave a special message to Chinese Catholics at the end of his Mass in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sept. 3, 2023.

Pope appoints new bishop in China, bringing a 70-year vacancy to an end

Jan 25, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

The Holy See Press Office announced on Thursday that Father Thaddeus Wang Yuesheng was appointed by Pope Francis as the... Read more

Pope Francis leads an ecumenical second vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Jan. 25, 2024.

Christian unity must be rooted in prayer, pope says at ecumenical vespers

Jan 25, 2024

By Peter Pinedo

Marking the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis hosted an ecumenical vespers at Rome’s Basilica... Read more

Canadian sister Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.

Canadian religious sister Mother Marie-Léonie Paradis cleared for canonization

Jan 25, 2024

By Francesca Pollio Fenton

Pope Francis signed a decree on Jan. 24 allowing for the canonization of Canadian sister Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of... Read more

Sculpture of St. Peter outside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

Vatican appeals court sentences priest to prison for sexual abuse of teen

Jan 24, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Father Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him... Read more

Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican.

Pope Francis: Avarice is a ‘sickness of the heart, not of the wallet’

Jan 24, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

In his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis said the preoccupation with the accumulation of material goods reflects a greater “pathological... Read more

Pope Francis receives an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, on the second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Finland: a laboratory of ecumenism and Christian unity 

Jan 22, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

Finland is a traditionally Lutheran country, but in many ways it retains unique links with the Catholic tradition that has... Read more

Pope Francis meets with the journalists who cover the Vatican in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 22, 2024.

Pope Francis thanks Vatican journalists for reporting on scandals in the Church

Jan 22, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Journalists accredited to the Holy See Press Office met the pope in a private audience at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace... Read more

Pope Francis presides over Mass for the Sunday of the Word of God in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 21, 2024.

Pope Francis: Return to God’s word rather than social media’s ‘violence of words’

Jan 21, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Speaking of the “immense power” that the word of God can unleash in people’s lives, Pope Francis encouraged us to... Read more

Pope Francis blesses a mosaic of St. Charbel after his general audience Nov. 15, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square.

St. Charbel mosaic blessed by Pope Francis installed in Vatican grottoes

Jan 19, 2024

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

The mosaic was installed in the grottoes located beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Read more

Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, speaks with EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser on Jan. 18, 2024.

Vatican prefect: Fiducia Supplicans draws ‘some negative reactions’ from Christian leaders

Jan 19, 2024

By Matthew Santucci, AC Wimmer

In an exclusive EWTN interview and in comments to the Vatican’s news agency, Cardinal Kurt Koch said he has received... Read more

Pope Paul VI meets Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras I at his residence of the apostolic delegation on Jan. 5, 1964. The meeting between the two church leaders ended a 900-year standoff between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity commemorates historic meeting of two lungs of the Church

Jan 18, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

The theme for 2024 is “You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself.” Read more

Pope Francis takes part in the Roman Curia’s Lenten retreat in Ariccia, Italy, on March 6-10, 2016.

Pope Francis to hold private Lenten retreat for fifth consecutive year

Jan 16, 2024

By Matthew Santucci

For the fifth consecutive year the joint retreat between the Holy Father and the Roman Curia has been canceled. Read more

Pope Francis embraces Vinicio Riva after the general audience on Nov. 6, 2013.

Man with disfigured face whose embrace with Pope Francis touched the world dies

Jan 12, 2024

By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú

The pontiff embraced Vinicio Riva while greeting pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square after a general audience in 2013, the year... Read more

Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

Argentine nuns now living in Vatican monastery that was Pope Benedict’s last residence

Vatican City has new tenants: seven nuns from Argentina who, at the request of Pope Francis, will live in Mater... Read more

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

Vatican official says Church should allow married priests

Jan 8, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Archbishop Charles Scicluna said that the Church should learn from the Eastern Churches, which allow married men the option to... Read more