The motto of the modern Olympic Games, “Faster, Higher, Stronger,” was coined by French Dominican friar Louis Henri Didon, who became friends with the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, five years before the 1896 Athens Games. The motto, originally formulated in Latin as “Citius, Altius, Fortius,” was used before the modern Olympic…
CNA—The NFL’s Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis are host to more than 50,000 Catholics to the National Eucharistic Congress taking place July 17–21. The five-day congress is bringing the faithful together to inspire people to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. The congress has opportunities for attendees to take part in…
July 13 marks the feast day of a dynamic, enthusiastic Catholic layman from the Caribbean who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001. Known as “Charlie” — abbreviated to just “Chali” in his most intimate circle — from childhood Carlos Manuel “Charlie” Rodríguez exuded a gift and zeal for communicating the tremendous value…
CNA—Relics of Blessed Carlo Acutis, St. Juan Diego, and five other saints will be available for veneration each day of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis next week. Catholics attending the congress will have the rare opportunity to pray with the relics of Sts. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Manuel González García, Paschal Baylon, Junípero Serra, Juan…
CNA—Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, archbishop emeritus of Lima, Peru, is celebrating 36 years as a bishop and on the occasion has expressed his special gratitude to St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI. The cardinal addressed the subject in a July 4 video message from Rome posted…
As a boy, St. Irenaeus of Lyon sat at the feet of St. Polycarp, eagerly listening to the sermons of the early Christian bishop and disciple of the apostle John. Irenaeus grew up to write vastly influential documents that witnessed to the early Church’s understanding of topics ranging from the Old Testament to the Eucharist.…
CNA/Vatican Media—On the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis invited the Catholic faithful — including the recently appointed metropolitan archbishops who received their blessed pallium today — to “open the doors” of the Church and follow the example of the two great apostles of Rome so that all people can know and experience…
CNA—A 20th-century Polish Catholic priest killed by communist authorities was beatified on Saturday at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Łagiewniki, Poland. Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Father Michał Rapacz in January. The 41-year-old priest was shot twice by communist authorities on the night of May 10-11, 1946, after being taken from his village parish…
ACI Prensa—Throughout the centuries, the saints have taught us, through their witness and their writings, the vital importance of the Eucharist in the Christian life. From the Last Supper, Holy Scripture and the unwavering teaching of the Holy Catholic Church, we know Jesus—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—is truly present in the Eucharist. That is why…
CNA—On May 23, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for him to become the first millennial saint. The Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006 is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. His witness inspired…
CNA—Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for him to become the first millennial saint. The Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006 is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Confirmed second miracle due to…
ACI Prensa—Along with other saints, every May 10 the Church honors St. John of Avila, the patron saint of the Spanish clergy. This renowned founder of schools and centers of formation and study recorded in one of his writings what he considered to be the best gift we can give to our heavenly mother, the…
CNA/ACI Prensa— World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every May 3, drawing attention to the importance of free and independent news media. Among modern-day saints, there is a journalist-priest who suffered martyrdom by the Nazis for his work in Catholic media: St. Titus Brandsma. St. Titus (1881–1942), canonized by Pope Francis in 2022, was a…
CNA—Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati could be declared a saint during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, according to the head of the Vatican’s office for saints’ causes. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, announced at Catholic Action’s national assembly in Sacrofano, Italy, on April 26 that Frassati’s canonization…
CNA—Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Elena Guerra, paving the way for the canonization of a new female saint known as “an apostle of the Holy Spirit.” A friend of Pope Leo XIII and the teacher of St. Gemma Galgani, Elena Guerra (1835–1914) is known for her spiritual writings…
In light of the soon-to-begin pilgrimage route from the West, named the Serra Route, that will end in Indianapolis at the National Eucharistic Convention, we re-post this important article on Fr. Serra penned by the Archbishop of San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone: To the protesters who tore down his statue in Los Angeles [in July…
“Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us who did eat and drink with Him after He rose from the dead.” Acts x. 40, 41. {282} IT might have been expected, that, on our Saviour’s rising again…
ACI Prensa—March 7 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of Catholic education, who uttered a last prophecy and an emotional prayer before his departure to heaven. In addition, the saint reportedly spoke the lyrics of a beautiful hymn of his that is sung to this day throughout…
In case you did not know, we are so blessed to celebrate a triple jubilee of St. Thomas Aquinas in the years 2023-2025. July 18, 2023 marked the 700th anniversary of St. Thomas’ canonization by Pope John XXII in 1323. March 7, 2024, today, marks the 750th anniversary of his death at Fossanova, Italy in…
ACI Prensa, CNA—In the history of the Catholic Church various saints and blesseds have described what hell is like, based on visions and messages they received during their lives. Hell’s structure St. Teresa of Ávila, a doctor of the Church, related in her Autobiography that when the Lord showed her hell, she experienced that she…
