Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.

Articles by Courtney Mares

Youth synod final document addresses 'all types of abuse'

Oct 27, 2018 / 15:37 pm

The 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 am

Catholic 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 pm

As 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 am

While 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 am

In 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 am

Congressman 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 am

The 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 am

The 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 am

On 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 pm

A 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 am

South 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 pm

Smartphone 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 am

Weeks 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 am

Young 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

South Korean bishop: Before Pope Francis plans a trip, ‘some things in North Korea should change’

Oct 11, 2018 / 13:00 pm

Bishop Yoo Heung Sik of Daejeon, who has made multiple trips to North Korea on behalf of the South Korean Bishops Conference, originally welcomed the news that South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in and Chairman Kim Jong Un had discussed inviting Pope Francis to visit the DPRK during their meeting in late-September.

Pope Francis: Abortion is like hiring a hitman

Oct 10, 2018 / 03:04 am

In his general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis said that abortion “suppresses innocent and helpless life in its blossoming.” “Is it right to take a human life to solve a problem? It's like hiring a hitman,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 10, in a departure from his prepared remarks.

Cardinal Lacroix: Young people, clerics included, need better formation on sexuality

Oct 9, 2018 / 12:24 pm

Young Catholics, particularly clerics, need better formation on sexuality, affectivity, and the body, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix told reporters Tuesday, speaking about the 2018 Synod of Bishops.

Kim Jong Un invites Pope Francis to meet in Pyongyang

Oct 9, 2018 / 04:40 am

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has invited Pope Francis to meet in Pyongyang, a South Korean spokesman said Tuesday. Pope Francis is already set to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Oct. 18 for an audience at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, where Moon will personally deliver the invitation from Kim Jong Un.

Youth synod bishop apologizes to young people on behalf of Church leaders

Oct 5, 2018 / 09:26 am

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney apologized to young people on behalf of Church leaders in a speech at the Synod of Bishops Friday.