Vatican: Investigation of Canadian cardinal found no 'misconduct or abuse' 

Cardinal Gerald Lacroix is archbishop of Quebec, Canada. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNACNA Staff, May 21, 2024 / 10:50 am (CNA).The Vatican on Tuesday said it would take "no further canonical procedure" after an investigation into abuse allegations against a Canadian cardinal revealed no evidence of misconduct or abuse.Cardinal Gerald Lacroix, the archbishop of Quebec and member of the Council of Cardinals that advises Pope Francis, was accused as part of a class-action lawsuit against his archdiocese of abusing a 17-year-old girl almost four decades ago. The cardinal has denied the accusation. The Vatican in March commissioned André Denis, a former judge of the Superior Court of Quebec, to conduct an investigation into the allegations.In a Tuesday statement, the Vatican said Denis' investigation concluded on May 6 and had been "consigned to the Holy Father in the following days.""In the light of the facts examined by the judge, the report does not permit to identify any acti...

Pope Francis names Bishop Joseph Williams as coadjutor bishop of Camden, New Jersey

Bishop-elect Joseph A. Williams. / Credit: Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and MinneapolisRome Newsroom, May 21, 2024 / 09:06 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Tuesday named Bishop Joseph Williams as coadjutor bishop of Camden, New Jersey.Williams, 50, has served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis since 2022.As coadjutor, Williams will assist 79-year-old Bishop Dennis Sullivan in the administration of the Camden Diocese and will automatically succeed him as bishop upon Sullivan's retirement next year. "I am overjoyed in coming to a diocese whose bishop is held in such high esteem by both the faithful and the Holy Father," Williams said after the announcement was made public."I look forward to learning from Bishop Sullivan, my brother priests in Camden, the deacons, consecrated women and men, and the faithful of South Jersey about their needs and their hopes for the future."According to the Diocese of Camden, Sullivan submitted his let...

And they're off! National Eucharistic Pilgrimage routes begin with Holy Spirit-powered send-offs

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, blesses the crowd with the Eucharist in a monstrance during an outdoor Pentecost Sunday Mass on May 19, 2024, in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Mass at the headwaters of the Mississippi River marked the start of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a four-route trek consisting of Eucharistic processions, community service, and other events that culminates in July at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianpolis. / Credit: Gianna Bonello/CNABemidji, Minnesota, May 19, 2024 / 21:47 pm (CNA).At the start of Mass Sunday at one of the launch sites of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Bishop Andrew Cozzens remarked that although he had his hiking shoes on, the journey ahead would need something more than natural support to reach its intended destination."In order to make this pilgrimage fruitful, we need the Holy Spirit," said the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, bishop.If that's the case, then the National Eucharistic...

Pope Francis on Pentecost: The Holy Spirit's work in us is powerful

Pope Francis participates in Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost, May 19, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 19, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).On the solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis said that Christians are called to proclaim the Gospel to everyone with gentleness and the power of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope explained that the Holy Spirit's "work in us is powerful, as symbolized by the signs of wind and fire," but it is also gentle and "welcoming to all.""From the 'upper room' of this basilica, like the apostles, we too are being sent forth to proclaim the Gospel to all," Pope Francis said in his homily on May 19.Pope Francis celebrates Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost, May 19, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA"Thanks to the Spirit, we can and must do this with his own power and gentleness," he added.Pope Francis underlined that this power is not arrogant, calculating, or imposing but is "born of fidelity to the truth that the Sp...

Orthodox patriarch anticipates Pope Francis visit to Turkey for Council of Nicaea anniversary

Pope Francis meets with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021. / Credit: Vatican MediaWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 18:04 pm (CNA).Pope Francis might be traveling to Turkey next year for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, according to Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew in comments he made on Thursday.Although the Holy See has not confirmed any travel plans, the ecumenical patriarch told a group of reporters that a committee is being established to organize a visit, according to the Orthodox Times. The referenced council took place in the ancient city of Nicaea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of Iznik in Turkey. "His Holiness Pope Francis wishes for us to jointly celebrate this important anniversary," Bartholomew said.The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church,...

How life has changed for the girl who recovered her sight at 2023 World Youth Day

A view of the crowd and nearby waterfront at the opening Mass for World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 1, 2023. / Credit: Arlindo Homem/JMJ Lisboa 2023ACI Prensa Staff, May 18, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Jimena, the young woman who regained her sight after receiving Communion at a Mass during World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023, told ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, about how she experienced that moment, her return home, and the details of a special meeting she had with Pope Francis during a pilgrimage she made with her family to Rome to thank the Virgin for that "miracle."For two and a half years, Jimena suffered from a loss of sight due to a myopia problem that left her with a 95% vision loss.She traveled to Lisbon from Madrid with a group from Opus Dei. During the days prior, relatives and acquaintances of the young woman organized a novena to pray to Our Lady of the Snows, whose feast day is commemorated Aug. 5, the same day she recov...

Here's how the city of Rome is preparing for the 2025 Jubilee Year

Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year. / Credit: EWTN NewsRome Newsroom, May 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year (Dec. 24, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2026). According to the city's mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, the upcoming "Jubilee of Hope" is expected to draw in an additional 30 million to 35 million tourists to Italy during the Catholic holy year."The jubilee is an extraordinary global event with a great spiritual significance for which the city of Rome must be ready," Gualtieri told EWTN News Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser. "We are working to make it more welcoming so that pilgrims can live the experience of the Jubilee in the best possible way." The city of Rome's online portal Roma Si Transforma currently lists approximately 358 planned projects in the Lazio region in which Rome is located. Each project is categorized as either a culture, inn...

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage: Don't miss these stops on the St. Juan Diego Route

A map of the Juan Diego Route which goes through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, ending in Indiana. / Credit: EWTN News In-DepthCNA Staff, May 18, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will span the United States with four different pilgrimages starting in California, Texas, Mississippi, and Connecticut and meeting in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress."A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before. All told, it will travel through 27 states and 65 dioceses, covering a combined distance of 6,500 miles on foot and with the help of support vehicles," said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. "It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way."The St. Juan Diego Route, named for the beloved saint who encountered Our Lady of Guadalupe, will start at the sou...

Peru's government considers transexualism a mental health problem: what you need to know

null / Credit: Juanje Garrido/ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, May 17, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).A few days ago, the government of Peru published a supreme decree in which "transsexualism" and "gender identity disorder" are considered "mental health problems," among other points, causing controversy even within agencies of the executive branch. On May 10, the official newspaper El Peruano published supreme decree No. 009-2024-SA, which approves the update of the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS, by its Spanish acronym), a document that details the list of diseases whose treatments are provided in public hospitals.In this regulation, signed by Peru President Dina Boluarte, Minister of Economy and Finance José Berley Arista, and Minister of Health César Henry Vásquez, seven diagnoses considered "mental health" problems are included.The diagnoses are "transsexualism; dual-role transvestism; childhood gender identity disorder; other gender identity disorders; gender identity dis...

Fernández: Vatican's new apparitions guidelines stress 'caution' in discernment process

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presides over a press conference on Friday, May 17, 2024, on the Vatican's new document on Marian apparitions. / Credit: Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN NewsRome Newsroom, May 17, 2024 / 11:03 am (CNA).Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández held a press conference on Friday addressing the Vatican's new guidelines on apparitions, with the prelate noting that the new norms would help introduce greater prudence in the discernment process. "The Church has stated that the faithful are never forced to believe in this phenomenon. They are never obliged. There's no obligation," said Fernández, the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during the conference at the Holy See Press Office on Friday. "The Church, as a matter of fact, leaves the faithful free to devote their attention to this phenomena or not," he added. "Revelation that has already happened is the word of God. It contains everyth...