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After his Angelus on Sept. 15, 2024, Pope Francis appealed for the release of the remaining Hamas hostages and said he is praying for the victims and their families.

Pope Francis urges release of Hamas hostages, end of conflict in Israel and Palestine

Sep 15, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis on Sunday urged the release of the remaining Hamas hostages as he remembered 23-year-old American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and... Read more

Pope Francis speaks to journalists aboard the papal plane during an in-flight press conference on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, on his return from his nearly two-week tour of Southeast Asia.

Pope Francis: U.S. presidential election a choice between ‘the lesser evil’

Sep 13, 2024

By Courtney Mares

Speaking aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis encouraged U.S. Catholics to vote with their conscience in the upcoming Nov. 5... Read more

Pope Francis delivers a video message to participants in the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress, taking place in Quito, Ecuador, Sept. 8-15, 2024. The Eucharist teaches us how to have, the pope said in his message recorded at the Vatican, "a profound brotherhood, born of union with God..."

Pope Francis to 2024 International Eucharistic Congress: The Eucharist teaches us fraternity

Sep 8, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis sent a video message for the first day of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress, taking place in Quito,... Read more

Pope Francis wears a traditional head dress as greets a young girl in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 8, 2024.

Pope Francis in Papua New Guinea: Put love before superstition, fear

Sep 8, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

After celebrating Mass in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Sept. 8, the pope traveled 620 miles by air to... Read more

Father Roger Landry.

Father Roger Landry appointed national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA

Sep 5, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

Father Roger Landry was the only priest who walked the entirety of one of the four cross-country pilgrimage routes on... Read more

Vatican and China flags.

China officially recognizes formerly ‘underground’ bishop, Vatican says

Aug 27, 2024

By Kristina Millare

The bishop had reportedly once been placed under house arrest after refusing to join the church officially backed by the... Read more

Pope Francis greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 25, 2024.

Pope Francis on Ukraine’s Russian Orthodox Church ban: ‘Churches are not to be touched!’

Aug 26, 2024

By Daniel Payne

A new Ukrainian law, which passed the country’s Parliament on Aug. 20, bans the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukrainian territory. Read more

Pope Francis meets on Aug. 26, 2024, at the Vatican with relatives of the victims of the deadly 2020 Beirut explosion.

Pope Francis meets with families of 2020 Beirut blast victims

Aug 26, 2024

By Kristina Millare

Four years since the deadly blast that killed more than 220 people and injured some 6,500, investigations into the cause... Read more

“To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs,” Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25, 2024.

Pope Francis prays for people of Nicaragua: ‘Renew your hope in Jesus’

Aug 25, 2024

By Courtney Mares

The pope entrusted Nicaragua to the protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Read more

Pope Francis addressed the International Catholic Legislators Network as it holds its 15th annual meeting in Italy from Aug. 22-25. The theme of the gathering is “The World at War: Permanent Crises and Conflicts — What Does It Mean for Us?”

Pope Francis: War has an ‘abyss of evil’ at its center

Aug 24, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis asked Catholic politicians and legislators to be witnesses of hope to a “war-weary world,” especially the next generation. Read more

Pope Francis meets with Beniamino Zuncheddu at the Vatican on Aug. 23, 2024. Zuncheddu, who was wrongly imprisoned for 33 years after being falsely accused of the triple homicide of three shepherds in 1991, had his conviction overturned and was released from prison.

Pope Francis meets wrongly-imprisoned Italian man freed after 33 years behind bars

Aug 23, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Beniamino Zuncheddu, now in his 60s, was released from prison in January after his murder conviction was overturned. Read more

The Vatican has accepted the decree of an archbishop approving the spiritual activities of the Catholic Shrine of Chandavila in the town of La Codosera in Badajoz, Spain, where Our Lady of Sorrows is alleged to have appeared to two young girls at the end of World War II.

Vatican approves devotion to 1945 apparition of Our Lady of Sorrows in Spain 

Aug 23, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

An Aug. 22 letter from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith called Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila... Read more

The Cathedral of the Holy Martyrs, in Gyumri, Armenia, is the cathedral of the Ordinariate for Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and Eastern Europe of the Armenian Catholic Church.

Pope Francis appoints new Ordinary for Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe

Aug 21, 2024

By Nicolás de Cárdenas

The Holy See Press Office announced the appointment of Archpriest Kevork Noradounguian as the new Ordinary for Armenian Catholics in... Read more

Pope Francis continued a series of lessons on the Holy Spirit during his weekly meeting with the public in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall on Aug. 21, 2024.

Pope Francis: Living the fruits of the Holy Spirit helps us spread holiness

Aug 21, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

During his general audience in the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke about the Holy Spirit, focusing on the fruits of being... Read more

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of Synod on Synodality, speaks to the media on June 20, 2023, at the temporary headquarters of the Holy See Press Office in Vatican City.

Synod organizer Cardinal Hollerich: Catholic Church in Africa ‘not afraid to speak’

Aug 20, 2024

By Tyler Arnold

The prelate told La Croix that the Church in Africa is one that is “alive and full of faith” and... Read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the leader of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land,  discussed prospects for peace in the war in Gaza Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in a conversation with Bernhard Scholz, president of the Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples Foundation.

Pope Francis and Cardinal Pizzaballa open lay Catholic meeting against backdrop of war

Aug 20, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis urged the meeting’s participants not to be discouraged by war and the challenges of today but to search... Read more

On the Vatican website, the Holy See’s communications department used a picture of a Rupnik mosaic of the dormition of Mary at the top of an article for the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary on Aug. 15, 2024.

Rupnik art appears on Vatican website again — and in Pope Francis’ apartment

Aug 16, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Also, last week, a video was published by an Argentine public TV channel that shows a Rupnik image hanging in... Read more

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​​Bioethicists scrutinize Pontifical Academy for Life’s new guidance on withdrawing food, water

Aug 16, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

The Pontifical Academy for Life’s new document last month on “artificial nutrition and hydration” has some observers concerned. Read more

A Ukrainian military vehicle drives from the direction of the border with Russia carrying blindfolded men in Russian military uniforms in the Sumy region on Aug. 13, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Vatican secretary of state says Ukraine’s military advances into Russia are ‘worrying’

Aug 14, 2024

By Tyler Arnold

Cardinal Pietro Parolin is expressing concerns about Ukraine’s recent military advances inside Russian territory, warning the actions could further escalate... Read more

Chinese pilgrims attend the general audience in St. Peter's Square, Oct. 12, 2016.

Pope Francis conveys ‘message of hope’ to Chinese Catholics, desire to visit China

Aug 9, 2024

By Tyler Arnold

“It seems tautological to send a message of hope to people who are masters of waiting,” Francis said. “The Chinese... Read more