Here is Pope Francis' schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2023

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square for Easter 2022 / Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 1, 2023 / 05:00 am (CNA).Palm Sunday marks the start of one of the most full and beautiful liturgical periods of the Catholic Church year.It is also one of the busiest liturgical periods at the Vatican, where Pope Francis has been scheduled to preside over nine Masses, liturgies, and devotions between April 2 and Easter Monday, April 10.With Pope Francis having been hospitalized on March 29 for a respiratory infection, it was unclear if he would be well enough to participate in any or some of the liturgies.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed on April 1 as Pope Francis was discharged from the hospital that the pope is still planning to be present for Palm Sunday Mass on April 2. Pope Francis will preside over the liturgies with a cardinal celebrating at the altar. Here is the Vatican's full schedule for Holy Week and Easter 2023:Palm SundayDaniel Ibáñez/CNA.On Sunda...

French bishops vote to open sainthood cause of Henri de Lubac

Henri de Lubac / Society of JesusRome Newsroom, Apr 1, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA).French bishops have voted to open the sainthood cause of 20th-century theologian Henri de Lubac.The French bishops' conference announced on March 31 that the opening of de Lubac's cause for beatification was approved during the bishops' plenary assembly in Lourdes. De Lubac is considered by many to be one of the most important theologians of the 20th century. The French Jesuit priest was a leading thinker in the ressourcement school of thought that encouraged a return to the writings of the Church Fathers in Catholic theology. He also founded the Communio journal together with Joseph Ratzinger and Hans Urs von Balthasar.Some of his best-known books are "The Splendor of the Church," "The Christian Faith," "Catholicisme," "The Drama of Atheist Humanism," and "The Motherhood of the Church."Born on Feb. 20, 1896, in the northern French city of Cambrai, de Lubac grew up in a traditionally Catholic family wi...

What's this parish's secret to forming missionary disciples? 'It's Boulder.'

null / Credit: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center Facebook pageDenver, Colo., Apr 1, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA).After interviewing three priests in January who were students at CU Boulder, Denver Catholic spoke to the men and women behind the ministry to figure out their "secret sauce." What is the St. Thomas Aquinas Center doing to turn out great apostles?"It's Boulder," said Father Peter Mussett, pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Boulder. "The secret sauce that we have is that we get to do ministry in Boulder, which is on one hand, two steps ahead of the culture in its progressivism and on another hand, it actually facilitates this strange openness of exploration.""There's oddly an openness to Boulder, too; there's a curiosity," said Megan Dillon, director of advancement for St. Thomas Aquinas. "It's a tough environment but also there's a genuine curiosity." The St. Thomas Aquinas Center (St. Tom's), serves the University of Colorado-Boulder community through its Ca...

UPDATE: Doctors report 'marked improvement' in pope's condition

ROME (CNS) -- More than 24 hours after he entered the hospital, Pope Francis' doctors reported a "marked improvement" in his condition, which they attributed to treatment with intravenous antibiotics.The tests the pope underwent after entering Rome's Gemelli hospital with difficulty breathing revealed he had bronchitis, said a medical bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 30. "Based on his expected progress, the Holy Father could be discharged in the coming days."Earlier in the day, the Vatican said the 86-year-old pope "rested well" his first night in the hospital and was "steadily improving" from what it described as a respiratory infection.He spent the morning reading some newspapers, eating breakfast and had "resumed working," the Vatican had said. Before lunch, he went to the chapel near his hospital room to pray, and he received Communion.The evening bulletin said, "Pope Francis spent the afternoon at Gemelli devoting himself to rest, prayer and some work duties....

Responding to Indigenous, Vatican disavows 'doctrine of discovery'

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church formally "repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political 'doctrine of discovery,'" a Vatican statement said.Issued March 30 by the dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development, the statement said papal texts that seemed to support the idea that Christian colonizers could claim the land of non-Christian Indigenous people "have never been considered expressions of the Catholic faith.""At the same time, the church acknowledges that these papal bulls did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples," the statement said.Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said the document responds to the repeated requests of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States to disavow the so-called doctrine, but it does not ...

USCCB Statement on Doctrine of Discovery

WASHINGTON - The Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development released today a Joint Statement on the "Doctrine of Discovery." The matter at issue involves documents (papal bulls) issued in the fifteenth century with regard to European exploration of land beyond continental Europe. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City and secretary for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a statement in response to today's Joint Statement by the dicasteries: We are grateful to the Dicasteries for Culture and Education and for Promoting Integral Human Development for their Joint Statement on the "Doctrine of Discovery." The Joint Statement is yet another step in expressing concern and pastoral solicitude for Native and Indigenous peoples who have experienced tremendous suffering because of the legacy of a colonizing mentality. We welcome the statement's renewed repudiation and condemnation of the violence and injustices committed agai...

U.S. Bishops' President Asks Faithful to Pray for Pope Francis' Speedy Recovery

WASHINGTON - On Wednesday afternoon March 29, Pope Francis was taken to Gemelli Hospital in Rome. Reports followed that Pope Francis has a respiratory infection and will remain in the hospital for several days. Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement regarding the Holy Father: "As Pope Francis recovers in the hospital from a respiratory infection, we pray intensely for our Holy Father. On behalf of my brother bishops, I invite all the faithful to pause, if possible before the Blessed Sacrament, and pray for his speedy recovery. May our dear shepherd and all those in need of healing experience the comfort of Christ."###

UPDATE: Pope hospitalized for respiratory infection, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- After having difficulty breathing, Pope Francis went to Rome's Gemelli hospital March 29 where he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection that will be treated in the hospital for several days, the Vatican press office said.In the past few days, the statement said, "Pope Francis complained of some respiratory difficulties and this afternoon he went to Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic for some medical tests. The outcome of these showed a respiratory infection -- a COVID-19 infection was excluded -- that will require several days of appropriate medical treatment in the hospital."Pope Francis is touched by the many messages he's received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer," the press office said.About six hours earlier the press office had said the pope was at the hospital for "previously planned tests."Before acknowledging the pope would be hospitalized for a few days, a Vatican official said audiences with the pope scheduled for March 30 and 3...

Jesus renews life, hope even when all seems lost, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus can offer everyone hope and new life, Pope Francis said."Let yourself be pulled out" by Jesus during "these bad moments that happen to us all," the pope said before praying the Angelus with some 35,000 visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square March 26.In his talk, Pope Francis reflected on the day's Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus weeps and prays at Lazarus' tomb then calls to him to "Come out," bringing him back to life."The message is clear: Jesus gives life even when it seems that all hope has gone," the pope said.Like the stone sealing shut Lazarus' tomb, he said, there are "moments when life seems to be a sealed tomb: everything is dark and around us we see only sorrow and despair."But Jesus' miracle at the tomb teaches "this is not the end, that in these moments we are not alone; on the contrary, it is precisely in these moments that he comes closer than ever to restore life to us," the pope said.Even though Jesus wept for his friend's de...

Pope Francis visits pediatric oncology ward at hospital, baptizes newborn baby

Pope Francis baptizes a baby at Gemelli Hospital in Rome on March 31, 2023. / Credit: Screen shot of Vatican Media videoWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 31, 2023 / 09:32 am (CNA).While staying at Rome's Gemelli Hospital where he is undergoing treatment for bronchitis, Pope Francis paid a visit Friday to the pediatric oncology ward and baptized a newborn patient.The Holy See reported that the Holy Father spent about half an hour in the ward, where he distributed "rosaries, chocolate eggs, and copies of the book 'Jesus Was Born in Bethlehem of Judah.'"Pope Francis visits the pediatric oncology ward of Gemelli Hospital during his own hospital stay on March 31, 2023. Credit: Vatican MediaPhotos released by Vatican Media show the pope speaking with mothers accompanying their babies, writing a message, and baptizing a newborn baby."During the visit, which lasted about half an hour, the pope imparted the sacrament of baptism to a baby named Miguel Angel, who was only a few weeks old. At...