Here are two basic requirements Catholics must meet to receive Holy Communion

Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament. / Sidney de Almeida/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 22, 2022 / 08:24 am (CNA).The Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments. Of these, the Eucharist stands apart. St. Thomas Aquinas called it the "Sacrament of Sacraments."The Eucharist is the real presence of Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearance of bread and wine. The Eucharist is also referred to as "Holy Communion." "Communion" comes from the Latin communio, which means "to be in union with." According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), the Church refers to the Eucharist by this name "because by this sacrament we unite ourselves to Christ, who makes us sharers in his Body and Blood to form a single body" (CCC 1331).The Church teaches that anyone who receives Jesus in the Eucharist also receives "the pledge of glory with him" (CCC 1419). The Catechism says that participating in the Eucharist "identifies us with his Heart, sustains ...

Life 'is always sacred and inviolable' Pope Francis says

Participants in Italy's pro-life demonstration in Rome on May 21, 2022. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNAVatican City, May 22, 2022 / 08:20 am (CNA).Pope Francis praised a pro-life event in Rome and offered comments defending the dignity of life on Sunday. According to the website for the national Scegliamo la vita (Let's Choose Life) event, the May 21 gathering intended to affirm the dignity of human life from conception to natural death. Videos and photos on the event's Facebook page shows crowds marching and singing with signs and music. The pope greeted participants in the event after praying the Regina Caeli in St. Peter's Square in Rome."I thank you for your dedication in promoting life and defending conscientious objection, which there are often attempts to limit," he said. "Sadly," the pope continued, "in these last years, there has been a change in the common mentality, and today we are more and more led to think that life is a good at our complete disposal, that...

Pope Francis: Ask the Lord for the gift of peace

Pope Francis greets a crowd of an estimated 25,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome for his Regina Caeli address on May 22, 2022. / Vatican MediaVatican City, May 22, 2022 / 07:33 am (CNA).In his Sunday Regina Caeli address, Pope Francis reflected on Jesus' words to the disciples at the Last Supper in the Gospel reading from John: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you."Speaking to an estimated 25,000 pilgrims gathered on a bright day in St. Peter's Square in Rome, the pope noted that Jesus also makes a point to add, "Not as the world gives do I give it to you" (John 14:27)."What is this peace that the world does not know and the Lord gives us?" Pope Francis asked."This peace is the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit of Jesus. It is the presence of God in us, it is God's 'power of peace,'" he explained. "It is He, the Holy Spirit, who disarms the heart and fills it with serenity. It is He, the Holy Spirit, who loosens rigidity and extinguishes the temptatio...

Not over the rainbow, yet: Lawsuit blocks Catholic University's auction of 'Wizard of Oz' dress

Yellow brick road. / ShutterstockDenver Newsroom, May 22, 2022 / 12:12 pm (CNA).A dress worn by Judy Garland in her classic role as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" is now the main character in a surprise drama. Supporting characters are the Catholic University of America and some relatives of a priest and former professor who, they say, would have wanted his relatives to own the rare collectible, not the university.The university had planned to auction the dress to fund its drama school. These plans were delayed by a legal challenge from Wisconsin resident Barbara Ann Hartke, 81, a niece of Father Gilbert Hartke, O.P., the founder and head of the university's drama school. She says that the dress should be hers because she is the priest's closest living relative.Barbra Ann Hartke's attorney, Anthony Scordo, told WTOP that there has been "absolutely no legal documentation of such a gift to the university" in any of its court filings. Her lawsuit also objects that the university di...

Charleston bishop 'conquered hearts' ministering to Hispanics in Georgia

Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune of Charleston. / Doug Deas/The Catholic MiscellanyDenver Newsroom, May 22, 2022 / 14:00 pm (CNA).The newly consecrated Bishop of Charleston showed a great commitment and love for the Hispanic community in the Archdiocese of Atlanta where he previously served, according to a Hispanic leader in Atlanta. Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, a Haitian emigrant, became the Charleston diocese' first Black bishop when he was installed on May 13. Fabre-Jeune had previously served as the administrator of the San Felipe de Jesús Mission in Forest Park, Georgia, south of Atlanta, a congregation which he himself described at "99% Mexican."Jairo Martinez, who is retired today after 16 years serving as Director of the Atlanta Archdiocese' Hispanic Ministry Office, told CNA that despite not being a member of the Hispanic community, Fabre-Jeune endeared himself to the community with his "sense of commitment" as well as his "love for the people."Fabre-Jeune's commitm...

Who is Pauline Jaricot, the Catholic Church's next blessed?

Pauline Jaricot (1799-1862). / Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.Lyon, France, May 21, 2022 / 04:00 am (CNA).In 1859, the year that he died, St. John Vianney offered a cross to Pauline Jaricot, who will become the Church's newest blessed on Sunday.As he did so, he said these words: "God alone as witness, Jesus Christ as model, Mary as support, and then nothing, nothing but love and sacrifice."That cross can be seen today at the Maison de Lorette, a recently restored building in Lyon, the city in east-central France where Jaricot will be beatified on May 22.Jaricot was a prominent figure in 19th-century French Catholicism but is less well known outside France than Vianney, who played a significant role in her life. She met the priest when she was a child. Her parents had a house in the country, in Tassin, near Lyon, within the parish of Dardilly, where Vianney served. He sometimes came for lunch at the Jaricot house on Sundays, until he was appointed Curé of Ars.Jaricot was born i...

St Petersburg diocesan summit to grow the Church was historic opportunity

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the St. James Chapel at Bethany Center in Lutz, Fla., April 25, 2022. / Diocese of St. Petersburg Office of CommunicationsSt. Petersburg, Fla., May 21, 2022 / 08:00 am (CNA).Parish and Pastoral Center leaders from across the Diocese of St. Petersburg gathered April 25-27, 2022, for one purpose: growing the Church. The Parish Growth Summit at the Bethany Center provided 32 hours of praying, learning, dreaming and envisioning plans for filling our churches. The theme for the Summit was from Luke 14:23, the Parable of the Great Feast. In this Parable, Jesus speaks of a dinner that was prepared, but those who were invited never showed. The Master then orders the servant to find new people to invite so that "My house may be filled.""This event was transformational for me personally. Day-to-day we can fall into the mundane of ministry. But this workshop has reinvigorated my heart, my mind, and my passion for doing ministry and doing it the way Ch...

Pope Francis: Catholic schools should not be Christian in name only

Pope Francis met with members of the De La Salle Christian Brothers on May 21, 2022. / Vatican MediaVatican City, May 21, 2022 / 07:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis said Saturday that Catholic schools should not be Christian in name only, but in fact.Speaking to the De La Salle Christian Brothers, the pope underlined that Christians educators must first of all be witnesses to the Gospel."The Christian educator, in the school of Christ, is first of all a witness, and he is a teacher to the extent that he is a witness," Pope Francis said on May 21."And above all I pray for you, that you may be brothers not only in name, but in fact. And for your schools to be Christian not in name, but in fact," he said.The pope met with the Christian Brothers as the religious institute is participating in its 46th General Chapter in Rome on the theme: "Building new paths to transform lives.""We know that the 'way,' the truly new path, is Jesus Christ," Pope Francis said. "By following him, by walking wi...

Pope Francis' health: A CNA timeline

Pope Francis enters the Vatican's Paul VI Hall in a wheelchair on May 5, 2022. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.Vatican City, May 21, 2022 / 06:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis has been speaking about his health in recent weeks, especially a problem with his knee that is forcing him to walk and stand less.The 85-year-old Francis, who has spent most of his nine years as pope in relatively good health, has dealt with several painful medical conditions over the last few years. His difficulties have included a stay of more than a week in a hospital after colon surgery in 2021.Here is a CNA timeline charting Pope Francis' recent health concerns:December 2020A bout of sciatic pain in the final days of 2020 kept Pope Francis from presiding at the Vatican's liturgies on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.Francis has suffered from sciatica for a number of years; He spoke about it during an in-flight press conference returning from a trip to Brazil in July 2013."Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don't...

These Catholic bishops support Nancy Pelosi ban on Holy Communion

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone / EWTN News Nightly ScreenshotWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 21, 2022 / 11:15 am (CNA).So far only a small minority of U.S. bishops have come out publicly in support of Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone's May 20 announcement that he is barring Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion in the Archdiocese of San Francisco, her home diocese, until she repudiates her longstanding advocacy of abortion.There are 194 dioceses and archdioceses in the U.S. Here is a list of those bishops who have spoken in favor of Cordileone's action, as of May 21. Please send updates, with links to online statements if available, to smullen@catholicna.com.CaliforniaDiocese of Oakland+Michael Barber: "I support @ArchCardileone in the heroic and compassionate stance he took today in the protection and defense of human life. As @Pontifex said, 'Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesu...