ROME (CNS) — “The Virgin Mary told me, ‘Prepare the tomb.’” That is what Pope Francis said Mary told him when he was discerning whether to be buried in the historic Marian church where his body will be laid to rest April 26. Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major,…
WASHINGTON – According to a new survey, nine in ten men who will be ordained to the priesthood this year were encouraged to consider this vocation by someone in their life. Three-quarters of them regularly participated in Eucharistic Adoration before entering the seminary. “Encourage a young man to consider the priesthood or to attend Eucharistic…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Benedictine abbot and a Capuchin cardinal will offer spiritual meditations on the needs of the Catholic Church to the cardinals preparing to elect a new pope, according to the Vatican press office. Benedictine Father Donato Ogliari, abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, will offer the first meditation…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Given the late Pope Francis’ care and concern for the poor, a representative group of them has been formally invited to welcome his casket to Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial. “The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God,” the Vatican press office said in a…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — From the moment he took the helm of the Catholic Church’s sprawling hierarchy, Pope Francis positioned himself as a pastor close to the people he served, and he called out the behavior of priests who were distant from and thought they were superior to their flocks. The pope set the tone…
VATICAN CITY — To the chanting of Christ’s promise, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,” the mortal remains of Pope Francis were carried into St. Peter’s Basilica by 14 pallbearers. Thousands of people had made an early morning pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square April…