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Cardinals celebrate the ninth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on the third Sunday of Easter, May 4, 2025, at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNACNA Newsroom, May 4, 2025 / 20:07 pm (CNA).The conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti delivers his homily during the ninth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on the third Sunday of Easter, May 4, 2025, at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, May 4, 2025 / 20:28 pm (CNA).Editor's Note: On May 4, 2025, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, the former prefect of the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, delivered the following homily during the ninth day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.Venerable cardinal fathers, dear brothers in the episcopate and in the priesthood, dear brothers and sisters:The Liturgy of the Word of this last Novendial in suffrage of Pope Francis is that of the third Sunday of Easter, and the passage from John's Gospel just proclaimed represents the encounter of the resurrected Jesus with some apostles and disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, which ends with the mission...
Cardinals participate in the fifth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on April 30, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, May 4, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).On May 7, an expected 133 cardinal electors will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the new Roman pontiff, the successor to Pope Francis, who shied away from giving red hats to the traditional archdioceses but opted to give the honor to far-flung places, many of which had never had a cardinal before.Of the 133 cardinals with the right to vote in this conclave, 108 were created by Pope Francis and therefore will be participating in the election of a pontiff for the first time.Compared with the 2013 conclave that chose Pope Francis, none of the major sees typically headed by a cardinal will be represented this time around, including the archdioceses of Sydney, Vienna, Genoa, Paris, Milan, Palermo, Armagh, and Krakow.Pope Francis' choice of cardinals from nontraditional countries and see...
Cardinals participate in the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on May 3, 2025 — the feast of Sts. Philip and James — in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNACNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 18:21 pm (CNA).The conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:
Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime incenses the altar at the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica, Saturday, May 3, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Pope Francis desired that consecrated Catholic men and women possess "a heart and a spirit pure and free enough" to love and serve the least among us, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime said at the eighth Novendiales Mass on Saturday.The prelate, the former prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, celebrated, and delivered the homily at, the second-to-last Mass held in mourning for the Holy Father, who passed away on April 21. Praying for the dead, the cardinal said during the homily at St. Peter's Basilica, is "the greatest work of charity." Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime speaks at the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica, Saturday, May 3, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA"When we help...
Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime speaks at the eighth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica, Saturday, May 3, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, May 3, 2025 / 14:30 pm (CNA).Editor's Note: On May 3, 2025, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, the former prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, delivered the following homily during the 8th day of Novendiales Masses for Pope Francis. The text below is a CNA working translation of the Italian original published by the Vatican.Dearest Sisters and Brothers,St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori teaches that praying for the dead is the greatest work of charity. When we help our neighbors materially, we share ephemeral goods, but when we pray for them we do so with eternal goods. In a similar way lived the Holy Curé of Ars, universal patron of priests.To pray for the dead means, therefore, to love those who have died, and that is what we are doing now for Pope F...
Cardinals participate in the fifth Novendiales Mass for Pope Francis on April 30, 2025, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNACNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 10:09 am (CNA).The conclave to elect Pope Francis' successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:
Cardinal Francis Arinze speaks to EWTN News on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, May 3, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).Cardinal Francis Arinze has said that the Church needs "a pope who is full of fire for the kingdom of Christ." In an interview with EWTN earlier this year, the 92-year-old cardinal reflected on the qualities needed in the next pope, offered wisdom to younger cardinals who will enter their first conclave, and spoke of the challenges facing the Church today. "We want a pope who is full of fire for the kingdom of Christ," the Nigerian cardinal said. "A pope who is there spreading the Gospel. … A pope through whom people will believe." Cardinal Francis Arinze speaks to EWTN News on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAFor Arinze, who has served as a bishop for 60 years and a cardinal for 40, the next successor of St. Peter must above all be a witness to Christ, a pope whose "life is powerful." "The biggest chal...
Confessional. / AS photo studio/ShutterstockCNA Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 06:30 am (CNA).Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson on Friday signed a controversial state law that requires priests to report child abuse to authorities even if they learn of it during the sacrament of confession.The measure, introduced in the state legislature earlier this year, adds clergy to the list of mandatory abuse reporters in the state, but doesn't include an exemption for information learned in the confessional. A 2023 version of the proposal had offered an exemption for abuse allegations learned "solely as a result of a confession." The latest bill does not contain such a carve-out, and in fact explicitly notes that clergy do not qualify for a "privileged communication" exemption. Ferguson told reporters that as a Catholic he was "very familiar" with the sacrament of confession. "[I] felt this was important legislation," he said on Friday. Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly, meanwhile, said in a Frida...
Cardinal John O'Connor attends the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City as grand marshal on March 17, 1995. / Credit: JON LEVY/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 3, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).In 1975, Cardinal John O'Connor, the late former archbishop of New York, visited the Dachau concentration camp. His life-changing experience there eventually led him to found the Sisters of Life, a community of women dedicated to living out his mission: protecting and enhancing human life.Today, 25 years after his death, more than a 100 of those sisters will gather with O'Connor's relatives, friends, and those who have benefited from his ministry to celebrate his legacy.Sister Maris Stella, vicar general of the Sisters of Life, reflected on that legacy and told CNA that throughout his life O'Connor "had great respect for the dignity of the human person" and always had the dream to work with people in need, specifically children with disabilities and other vulnerable groups....
