Article Archive
Please click below to view any of the articles in our archive.
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter's Square for a Mass and canonization of 14 new saints on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, Mar 31, 2025 / 13:17 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has advanced five people's paths to sainthood after approving decrees promulgated by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints on March 28. Blessed Peter To Rot of Papua New Guinea, Blessed Ignatius Shoukrallah Maloyan of Turkey, and Blessed María Carmen of Venezuela will be proclaimed saints of the Church. The pope also approved the beatification of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma and declared Brazilian priest José Antônio de Maria Ibiapina a "venerable" of the Church. The canonization ceremonies of both To Rot and Maloyan are to be discussed in a future customary consistory, according to a Holy See Press Office announcement. To Rot, a lay catechist born on March 5, 1912, and martyred for his faith during World War II, will be the first can...
Mosaics by alleged abuser Father Marko Rupnik are displayed throughout the shrine in Lourdes, France. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNARome Newsroom, Mar 31, 2025 / 11:03 am (CNA).The Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France announced Monday that the entrances to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, featuring art by the disgraced artist Father Marko Rupnik, are being covered.Bishop Jean-Marc Micas of Tarbes and Lourdes called the decision a "second step" after his initial decision in July 2024 to no longer light up the mosaics at night and during processions."You know my opinion about the presence of these mosaics on the doors of the basilica. It seemed to me, together with my collaborators, that a new symbolic step had to be taken to make the entrance to the basilica easier for all those who today cannot cross the threshold," Micas said in an online post from the renowned Marian apparition site.Mosaics by the alleged sexual abuser Rupnik, who is under investigation and awaiting a...
Christian families displaced by the violence in India's Odisha state in 2008. / Credit: Aid to the Church in NeedBangalore, India, Mar 31, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A team of half a dozen Catholic nuns and lawyers have warned of increasing incidents of opposition to Christian funerals and hate campaigns against the Christian community in an eastern Indian state.The group sounded the alarm after making a fact-finding visit to several remote areas under the Balasore Diocese in the state of Odisha."What we heard from the people in the villages was shocking to us," Sister Clara D'Souza, a member of the Handmaid of Mary Congregation, told CNA on March 27."Our fact-finding report has details of incidents of tribal Hindu groups protesting and objecting to Christian funeral services and even Sunday Mass, starting [before Christmas]," she said. "As we released the fact-finding report, a third case of a Christian funeral obstruction happened on March 22," D'Souza added.Father Ajay ...
The proposed restoration of the frontage of the Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit. / Credit: Pulte Family Charitable FoundationCNA Staff, Mar 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A major U.S.-based initiative is providing tens of millions of dollars to Catholic parishes and organizations across the country to "restore and endow" Catholic communities around the country "for generations to come."The Pulte Family Charitable Foundation earlier this month announced the launch of the Catholic Initiative, described in a press release by the organization as "an innovative, Vatican-approved funding model" to help ensure the continuation of Catholic properties and parishes.The unique model is "the first of its kind in the world in faith-based fundraising, one that "shifts ownership of church buildings and campuses to a newly created nonprofit organization" created solely for that purpose, the foundation said.The Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit is seen in an undated photograph. Credit: StAnneDeD...
The Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL) unveils its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain, on March 28, 2025. / Credit: Marwan Semaan/ACI MENAACI MENA, Mar 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).Lebanon will soon have its own "camino," according to the Association of Pilgrimages in Lebanon (APL). On March 28, the group unveiled its plans for Caminos Lebanon, an innovative project designed to revitalize Christian religious tourism through a unique pilgrimage experience inspired by the renowned Camino de Santiago in Spain.The launch event, held in Bkerké, the episcopal see of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, gathered prominent figures, including Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, Tourism Minister Laura Khazen Lahoud, and Father Khalil Alwan alongside a diverse audience...
Mural of Archbishop Oscar Romero, / Credit: Douglas Radamez Barahona, Giovani Ascencio Ardón and Raul Lemus- Grupo Cinteupiltzin CENAR El Salvador (CC BY-SA 3.0).ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 29, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).The apostolic nunciature in El Salvador issued a correction for the irregularities that occurred March 24 during a Mass marking the 45th anniversary of the assassination of St. Oscar Romero, who served as archbishop of San Salvador during that country's civil war.The Mass, held in the chapel where Romero was assassinated while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980, included the unauthorized presence of a female Anglican bishop at the altar and banners in opposition to proposed gold mining, violating Catholic liturgical norms.In several photos released by Salvadoran media, a female Anglican bishop can be seen behind the altar along with the bishop of the Salvadoran Old Catholic Church and anti-mining activist Neftalí Ruiz; the celebrating bishop, Oswaldo Estefano Escobar Agui...
Speakers present at the briefing presenting the report "Attacks on Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem" by the Rossing Center on March 27, 2025. From left to right: Hana Bendcowsky, director of the Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations at the Rossing Center; Bernard Sabella, a retired professor of sociology; Federica Sasso (Rossing Center)), moderator, Hussam Elias, executive director of the project; and Jesuit Father David Neuhaus. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 29, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).On March 27 in Jerusalem, the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue presented findings from its annual report, "Attacks on Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem," and from a survey conducted in December 2024 with 300 Palestinian/Arab Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem providing insight into their perceptions of various aspects of life.The briefing was held at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center. A panel of experts who shed light on the challenges and anxietie...
Pope Francis looks out at the crowd gathered below his hospital window at Rome's Gemelli Hospital on March 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media / ScreenshotCNA Newsroom, Mar 29, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).As hundreds of Missionaries of Mercy gathered in Rome this weekend, Pope Francis commended their distinctive ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation that continues to flourish worldwide.Approximately 500 priests are participating in a special jubilee dedicated to their role as part of the broader 2025 Jubilee of Hope.In a message addressed to these priests, and written while still in hospital, Pope Francis expressed his "gratitude and encouragement" for their work as special confessors who possess faculties to absolve certain sins typically reserved to the Holy See."Through your service," the pontiff wrote, "you bear witness to the paternal face of God, infinitely great in love, who calls everyone to conversion and constantly renews us with His forgiveness."The missonaries' Ma...
Launched in March 2025, St. Claret Maternity Center in the Nyabwina village serves the local region in the Sheema/Mbarara District of Uganda. / Credit: MaterCare InternationalCNA Staff, Mar 29, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).It all began with Pope John Paul II. In the 1980s, the late pope encouraged Dr. Robert Walley, a Catholic obstetrician and gynecologist who died in 2020, to provide life-affirming health care to women in need. Walley went on to found MaterCare International (MCI), which is now celebrating 30 years of supporting ethical maternal health care in developing regions around the globe."MaterCare International is vital for women's health because it provides lifesaving maternal care to some of the world's most underserved regions while maintaining an ethical approach that values both the mother and the unborn child," Jennifer Derwey Deane, communications director at MCI, told CNA. MCI provides emergency obstetric care, remote transportation for rural communities to...
Bishop Christian Carlassare (center), President Salva Kiir (left), and Dr. Riek Machar (right). / Credit: Catholic Diocese of Rumbek/Office of the President - Republic of South SudanACI Africa, Mar 29, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).A Catholic bishop in the Africa's youngest country has directed the people under his care to participate in daily prayers for peace amid testimonies of rising tension in South Sudan and reports of the arrest of the country's first vice president, Dr. Riek Machar."First vice president" is a position that was created in 2015 as part of a coalition agreement. Five more such positions were created in 2020. They are temporary positions to assist during a transition period."As we witness rising tensions in South Sudan, I invite our parishes to pray every day for peace," Bishop Christian Carlassare wrote in a March 26 note obtained by ACI Africa, CNA's news partner in Africa.The local ordinary of the Bentiu Diocese in South Sudan, who also serves as the apostolic a...
