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The papal fisherman's ring and lead seal are nulled during the 12th general congregation of the College of Cardinals on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, May 6, 2025 / 09:46 am (CNA).The papal fisherman's ring and lead seal were nulled during the 12th general congregation of the College of Cardinals on Tuesday.The ring and seal are destroyed or nulled after a pope's death to prevent their future misuse to seal official documents.Cardinal Kevin Farrell and the College of Cardinals witness the cancellation of papal fisherman's ring and lead seal of Pope Francis on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaVatican Media shared photos and videos of the cancellation of the ring and seal on May 6, and the X account of the Vatican secretary of state said the procedure was carried out in the presence of camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell and the College of Cardinals in the New Synod Hall.Come tradizione in tempo di Sede Vac...
Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, Bishop Robert Barron speaks to EWTN News Vatican Correspondent Colm Flynn in Rome on Monday, May 5, 2025. / Credit: EWTN NewsCNA Staff, May 6, 2025 / 10:27 am (CNA).Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, this week said the next pope should be a disciple of Christ first and foremost, one who places "the declaration of Jesus" at the center of his papacy. Barron spoke to EWTN News Vatican Correspondent Colm Flynn on May 5 in Rome. The U.S. prelate noted that the Church is on "pins and needles" during the interregnum before the election of the next pope, though he admitted it's "an exciting time."Asked by Flynn about the commentary that has proliferated around the papacy since Pope Francis' death on April 21, Barron said the "politicization" of the papal selection process reflects a "lack of proper prioritization." The bishop pointed to Australian priest and theologian Father Gerald Glynn O'Collins, SJ, who when asked what ...
A woman pays tribute to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks at a cemetery in Negombo, Sri Lanka, on April 21, 2022, marking three years since the tragic attacks. / Credit: Ruwan Walpola/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 6, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).The archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, announced this week that the 167 Catholics killed in the Sri Lanka Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 will be included on the list of "Witnesses of Faith" established by Pope Francis.Inspired by an apostolic letter by Pope John Paul II, who wanted to ensure the legacy of the "unknown soldiers of God's great cause" was not lost, Pope Francis created the Commission of the New Martyrs - Witnesses of the Faith in 2023. Francis sought to acknowledge Catholics who have lost their lives while professing their faith in the first quarter of the 21st century. Compiled by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year, the list is an ongoing catalogue of Christ...
The popemobile used by Pope Francis during his visit to Bethlehem in 2014. / Credit: Courtesy of CaritasVatican City, May 5, 2025 / 13:56 pm (CNA).Before his death, Pope Francis donated one of his popemobiles to be converted into a mobile clinic to assist the children of Gaza, one of the communities most affected by the war and humanitarian crisis in that region.As Peter Brune, secretary-general of Caritas Sweden and one of the project's driving forces, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, it is the popemobile the pontiff used during his visit to Bethlehem in May 2014 during his historic trip to the Holy Land. "Since then, the vehicle has been on display in a public square in the Palestinian city," he said."The popemobile has been refurbished and upgraded to fulfill a new and hopeful mission: to provide medical assistance to injured and malnourished children who currently have no access to any type of health care," Brune explained.The initiative was per...
The archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, speaks to EWTN News on Friday, April 25, 2025, at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. / Credit: EWTN News/screenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 5, 2025 / 14:57 pm (CNA).Catholic leaders and some members of the Church hierarchy in the United States have criticized President Donald Trump for sharing an AI-generated image of himself dressed as a pope.Trump, who frequently shares memes of himself on social media, posted the image to Truth Social on Friday after joking that he would like to be chosen as the next pope. The White House subsequently posted the photo on its official X account.The social media posts came just days after the president said he would "like to be pope" when a reporter asked him who he hopes is selected for the papacy in the upcoming papal conclave. As part of his response to that same question, he went on to say he actually had "no preference" while also touting Cardinal Timothy Dol...
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti celebrates 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 / 19:58 pm (CNA).On the ninth and final day of Novendiales, the nine days of mourning for Pope Francis, French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti reflected on the papal mission to love and serve Christ and his Church.The mission of a pope "is love itself, which becomes service to the Church and to all humanity," the cardinal said in St. Peter's Basilica.The Mass for the ninth and last of the Novendiales was celebrated for the third Sunday of Easter.In his homily, Mamberti, who was the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's final court of appeal, since 2014, spoke about the day's Gospel passage, in which Jesus asks St. Peter three times if he loves him, calling on him to "feed my lambs" and "tend my sheep.""Love is the key word of this...
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:
