Vatican News/CNA—Two Catholic priests killed by Nazis while ministering to the dying amid the Boves massacre were beatified as martyrs on Sunday in northern Italy. See two very short videos at the end of this article featuring actual footage of these inspiring priests. In the face of grave danger, Father Giuseppe Bernardi and Father Mario…
On October 9, 2021, Archbishop Viganò spoke to thousands of Italians protesting in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo against the introduction of a “green pass” throughout Italy. His talk was broadcast on large video screens in the Piazza. October 9 is the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar (considered the first apparition of Mary, to…
CNA—The blood of St. Januarius, patron of the Italian city of Naples, liquefied on Sunday. The miraculous event took place in the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary during morning Mass on Sept. 19, 2021, the saint’s feast day. Before the Mass, Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia went to the Royal Chapel of the Treasure…
CNA—An Italian nun who was stabbed to death by three teenage girls was beatified on Sunday, after Pope Francis declared her a martyr, killed “in hatred of the faith.” Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti was beatified on June 6, the anniversary of her murder, in Chiavenna, the northern Italian town where she was killed in the…
Pope Francis advanced Tuesday the sainthood causes of several men and women, including two Italian priests of the 20th century — one who was ordained at age 23 and another who was ordained at 65, after a lay career and a lifetime of serving the poor. Venerable Fr. Mario Ciceri knew his vocation from a…
CNA—The liquefaction of the blood of the early Church martyr St. Januarius occurred Saturday amid the coronavirus lockdown, leading the Archbishop of Naples to bless the city with the miraculous relic. “Dear friends, I have a big announcement to make: even in this time of coronavirus, the Lord through the intercession of St. Januarius has…
CNA—Italy’s bishops have criticized Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for failing to lift the ban on public Masses. The Italian bishops’ conference Sunday released a statement denouncing Conte’s decree on “phase 2” of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, which it says “arbitrarily excludes the possibility of celebrating Mass with the people.” During a press conference April 26…
Vatican News, CNA, CBJ—Catholics around the world are invited to pray virtually before the Shroud of Turin on Holy Saturday, as the world struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. This rare public showing begins at 5pm local time (Turin, Italy) on April 11, 2020. It will be broadcast live on television and live-streamed on social…
As mandates of quarantine rolled out across Europe, Asia and now the U.S., local parishes and religious orders scramble to find new ways to bring God’s Word and the Sacred Liturgy of the Mass to our ears and hearts. Many Catholic parishes and religious communities are live-streaming Masses. (see our extensive list here) But that’s…
C&L—Luca Salvi (see featured photo) works at the Alzano Lombardo Hospital in Bergamo, Italy, one of the hotbeds of the epidemic, where everything has changed—from the conception of work to relationships amongst colleagues. “What is happening makes us reflect on our consistency,” he says. For over thirty years, Luca Salvi, an orthopedic doctor, has only…
BioEdge—Daniele Macchini, a doctor at the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, damned complacency about coronavirus in a lengthy post on Facebook. “The war has literally exploded and battles are uninterrupted day and night. But now that need for beds has arrived in all its drama. One after the other the departments…
Italian Air Force gives its countrymen a boost of hope and encouragement as the country combats coronavirus releasing this video… The lone black plane represents coronavirus fleeing before Italy’s national flag and valiant endurance as Pavarotti sings Nessun Dorna (Let No One Sleep) and lyrics that include vencermos (We will overcome) in the background.
CNA—Several Catholic dioceses in northern Italy have suspended Mass and other activities this week to help contain the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus. The northern regions of Italy saw a dramatic uptick in coronavirus cases, prompting some regions to suspend all events or gatherings in public or private. In response to…
The unrestrained migration of hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim immigrants into European countries the last few years—most notably in Germany, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed more than a million Syrian refugees to pour into the country’s cities and towns, but also in other European countries—seems to have come to an abrupt about-face. This…
CNA—Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples usually does not faint at the sight of blood. He has celebrated the miracle of the liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius, an early martyr, many times over the years. But this year, something caused Sepe to “blanch” and sit down during the Sept. 19 celebration of the miracle,…
