Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Vatican correspondent. After growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, she earned a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri. In 2016, she moved to Rome, Italy, where in her spare time she enjoys reading and going on adventures with her husband and son.

Articles by Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals for the Catholic Church on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023. The men, whose ages range from 49 to 96, come from 15 different countries and five continents. Vatican Media

We asked the new cardinals: How should the Church evangelize the world today?

Sep 30, 2023 / 12:45 pm

From digital communication to hope to listening to the Gospel, here is what 12 of the cardinals told CNA they think is needed to evangelize the modern world.

Father Marko Rupnik. Credit: Screen shot/ACI Prensa

Discipline of sister who led community co-founded by Rupnik raises questions

Sep 27, 2023 / 11:28 am

Sister Ivanka Hosta is staying in a monastery in Braga, Portugal, following the conclusion of an investigation into her leadership of the religious community.

Pope Francis smiles during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Sept. 27, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Europe needs hope, Pope Francis says

Sep 27, 2023 / 06:52 am

“How can we welcome others if we ourselves do not first have a horizon open to the future?” the pope said.

Pope Francis meets with Latin American university rectors on Sept. 21, 2023, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis’ next environmental document to be called ‘Laudate Deum’

Sep 26, 2023 / 14:18 pm

Pope Francis’ new document on the environment will be, he said, “a look at what has happened and say what needs to be done,” Vatican News reported.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for an estimated 50,000 people at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseille, France, the last stop in his Sept. 22-23, 2023, visit to the port city to speak at an ecumenical meeting of young people and bishops called the “Rencontres Mediterraneennes,” or Mediterranean Encounter. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis: Be Christians who ‘leap for joy’ in the face of life

Sep 23, 2023 / 13:10 pm

Pope Francis celebrated Mass for an estimated 50,000 people in Marseille’s Vélodrome Stadium on Sept. 23.

Pope Francis speaks during a meeting with local religious leaders at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Francis in Marseille: It’s ‘a duty of humanity’ to save migrants abandoned at sea

Sep 22, 2023 / 14:53 pm

“We can no longer watch the drama of shipwrecks, caused by the cruel trafficking and the fanaticism of indifference,” the pope said Sept. 22.

Pope Francis entrusted a meeting of Mediterranean bishops and youth to the Virgin Mary during the first appointment of a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. The model ships hanging in Marseille's Basilica de Notre-Dame de la Garde are a testament to the faith of the sailors who have relied on the intercession of Our Lady over the centuries. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News

Pope Francis entrusts to Mary ‘Mediterranean Encounter’ with youth and bishops

Sep 22, 2023 / 14:33 pm

After landing in Marseille, France, Sept. 22, the pope made his way to the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Gardeto to ask for the intercession of Mary.

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, on Feb. 20, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Synod 2023: Participants to include two bishops from mainland China, Archbishop Paglia

Sep 21, 2023 / 09:00 am

The leadership of the Synod on Synodality have released the final list of participants for the first session of the October assembly.

Black smoke billows over the city after drone strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Sept. 19, 2023, amid Russia's military invasion on Ukraine. Drones attacked Ukraine's western city of Lviv early on Sept. 19, and explosions rang out, causing a warehouse fire and wounding at least one person. Credit: YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images

Vatican cardinal to make charity mission to Ukraine city hit by Russian drones

Sep 20, 2023 / 12:29 pm

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski is in Ukraine this week to open the House of Refuge “in the name of Pope Francis, as a sign of support and closeness.”

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Ill., mother church of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Credit: Edlane De Mattos/Shutterstock. null

Pope Francis accepts resignation of two Chicago auxiliary bishops

Sep 19, 2023 / 11:00 am

Auxiliary Bishops Andrew P. Wypych and Joseph N. Perry will step down after the Holy Father accepted their resignations.

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia holds up the reliquary with the liquefied blood of St. Januarius on the martyr bishop's feast day Sept. 19, 2023. The announcement that the blood had liquefied was made at the start of Mass in the Naples Cathedral by Abbot Vincenzo De Gregorio. Screenshot / YouTube channel Chiesa di Napoli

Blood of St. Januarius ‘completely liquefied’ on feast day

Sep 19, 2023 / 06:10 am

The blood “is not an oracle to consult and even less a city horoscope whose function is to predict misfortune or fortune for the city,” one archbishop said.

Pope Francis addressed pilgrims and tourists at his first outdoor general audience after the summer on Sept. 6, 2023. Vatican Media

Synod 2023: What has Pope Francis said about synodality?

Sep 17, 2023 / 13:15 pm

Synodality isn’t “a chapter in an ecclesiology textbook” or a “fad or a slogan to be bandied about in our meetings,” the pope has emphasized.

Pope Francis greets a delegation of Korean Catholics at the Vatican on Sept. 16, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Catholics in Korea called ‘to a burning faith’

Sep 16, 2023 / 12:31 pm

“With the prophecy of martyrdom, the Korean Church reminds us that we cannot follow Jesus without embracing his cross,” Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Mario Grech, who serves as secretary general of the global Synod on Synodality, speaks to EWTN Rome Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser for an exclusive interview that aired on EWTN on May 22, 2023. Credit: EWTN Vatican

Cardinal Grech shares blessing for Synod on Synodality to be given after Sunday Mass

Sep 15, 2023 / 12:50 pm

The general secretary of the synod has asked for prayers from all Catholics around the world for the upcoming session of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis met Maria Campatelli, director of the Aletti Center, at the Vatican on Sept. 15, 2023. The Aletti Center was founded in Rome by the former Jesuit priest Father Marko Rupnik. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis meets close collaborator of Rupnik

Sep 15, 2023 / 07:30 am

In June, Maria Campatelli published a letter defending Rupnik against “a media campaign based on defamatory and unproven accusations.”

Men process with the historic cross on the feast of the Holy Cross in Montemaggiore Belsito on Sept. 14, 2022. It is considered a great honor to be one of the people to transport the heavy float in which the cross is carried. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

One Sicilian town’s centuries-old devotion to the Holy Cross

Sep 14, 2023 / 02:30 am

For hundreds of years, the town of Montemaggiore Belsito has marked the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with a solemn procession.

The American actor and director Sylvester Stallone met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Sept. 8, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis meets ‘Rocky’ actor Sylvester Stallone at Vatican

Sep 8, 2023 / 09:15 am

The “Rocky” actor met the pope in the Apostolic Palace together with his brother, his wife, and their three daughters.

"Stumbling blocks" in Rome, Italy. Plates inscribed with the name and dates of life of the victim of Nazi persecution. Shutterstock

Documents identify thousands of Jews hidden by Catholic religious during Nazi occupation of Rome

Sep 7, 2023 / 08:30 am

The newly rediscovered documentation references more than 4,300 people hidden by 100 women’s religious congregations and 55 men’s religious congregations.

Pope Francis meets with bishops of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the Vatican on Sept. 6, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Ukrainian Greek Catholic synod tells Pope Francis he has made ‘painful’ statements

Sep 6, 2023 / 11:23 am

“We expressed to the pope everything that our faithful in Ukraine and throughout the world entrusted us to convey to His Holiness,” the bishops said. 

Pope Francis spoke about his recent trip to Mongolia during the general audience in St. Peter's Square on Sept. 6, 2023. Vatican Media

Pope Francis: Don’t overlook goodness because of scandal

Sep 6, 2023 / 03:06 am

“People, we too like scandal... But you don’t see the forest that is growing every day,” Pope Francis said.