India's Cardinal Koovakad plays key role ensuring secrecy, validity of conclave voting
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Indian Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad of the Syro-Malabar Church, official of the Secretariat of State and organizer of papal trips, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during the consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA Vatican City, May 8, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).As the most junior member of the College of Cardinals, Koovakad is tasked with drawing out the names of three cardinal scrutineers, infirmarii, and revisers.
Indian Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad of the Syro-Malabar Church, official of the Secretariat of State and organizer of papal trips, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis during the consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, May 8, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).
As the most junior member of the College of Cardinals, Koovakad is tasked with drawing out the names of three cardinal scrutineers, infirmarii, and revisers.
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Washington Nationals starting pitcher Trevor Williams delivers against the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park on May 2, 2023. | Credit: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images.Jan 4, 2026 / 18:00 pm (CNA).Catholic college athletes attending the SEEK 2026 conference in Columbus, Ohio, considered how holiness is built: Not through spotlight moments, but through quiet sacrifice, daily fidelity, and offering what little they have to God.Some 26,000 attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas for the conference organized by FOCUS, a Catholic group that sends missionaries to college campuses and parishes to invite students and young adults to a relationship with Jesus Christ.The message about holiness anchored a Varsity Catholic event, a branch of FOCUS ministry for college athletes. The session featured Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams and recently retired Atlanta Braves pitcher J.J. Niekro, who shared personal s...
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Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on January 4, 2026. / Vatican MediaVatican City, Jan 4, 2026 / 10:20 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV said Christian hope "is not based on optimistic forecasts or human calculations," but on God's decision to share humanity's path so that no one is alone on life's journey.Speaking Jan. 4 from the window of the Apostolic Palace to hundreds of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square despite the rain, the pope said the foundation of Christian hope is "God's Incarnation," pointing to the day's Gospel reading from the Prologue of St. John: "The Word became flesh and lived among us" (Jn 1:14).On the Second Sunday after Christmas, before reciting the Angelus, Leo urged believers to rethink their faith and avoid an abstract or distant spirituality. "He is not a distant deity in a perfect heaven above us, but a God who is nearby and inhabits our fragile earth, who becomes present in...
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