Reading 1 Acts 4:23-31 After their release Peter and John went back to their own people and reported what the chief priests and elders had told them. And when they heard it, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said, “Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth and the sea and all…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mercy — the cornerstone of Pope Francis’ teaching and ministry — must guide the Catholic Church through its period of mourning and the uncertainty that lies ahead, the Vatican’s second-ranking official said. Celebrating Mass April 27 for the second day of the “novendiali” — nine days of mourning for the late…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For thousands of young teens who traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Teenagers, the announcement of Pope Francis’ death came as a shock. For many, the joy of commemorating the Jubilee Year dedicated to hope was suddenly mingled with grief at the loss of the pontiff, who passed away April…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Francis was elected as the first Latin American pontiff, he said his brother cardinals went out of their way to pick someone from the “ends of the earth.” He spent the rest of his pontificate going back out to those peripheries, traveling to more than 65 nations, preferring those…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the pope, who died April 21 at the age of 88. And the people — an estimated 200,000 of…
ROME (CNS) — The casket bearing the body of Pope Francis made its final journey through the streets of Rome accompanied by applause and shouts of gratitude from thousands of mourners. After the funeral Mass April 26, pallbearers carried Pope Francis’ coffin through St. Peter’s Basilica, stopping briefly at the steps leading to St. Peter’s…