Pope Francis appoints Argentine Archbishop Fernández as head of doctrine dicastery

Pope Francis appoints Argentine Archbishop Fernández as head of doctrine dicastery

Pope Francis has named Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, his longtime personal theologian and ghostwriter, to lead the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Argentine prelate succeeds Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, SJ, 79, who has been prefect of the dicastery since 2017. Fernández, almost 61, will take up his new post in the middle…

Vatican-ordered investigation targets Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas…

Vatican-ordered investigation targets Bishop Strickland of Tyler, Texas…

CNA, CBJ—The Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops has completed a formal investigation of Bishop Joseph E. Strickland and the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, according to multiple media reports and confirmed by EWTN News. Apolstolic Visitation The inquiry, known as an apostolic visitation, marks a rare though not unprecedented intervention by Rome into a U.S. diocese and…

Coptic Patriarch to offer Orthodox Divine Liturgy in St. John Lateran Basilica

Coptic Patriarch to offer Orthodox Divine Liturgy in St. John Lateran Basilica

CNA—The head of the Coptic Church is scheduled to offer the Orthodox Divine Liturgy in the Catholic Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on May 14. According to Father Martin Browne, an official at the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, this liturgy will take place in the context of an official visit of…

Of Catholics and Chinese Communists: The Vatican renews its bad deal with Beijing that ignores human-rights and religious abuses

Of Catholics and Chinese Communists: The Vatican renews its bad deal with Beijing that ignores human-rights and religious abuses

WSJ—Even as Xi Jinping was being crowned as China’s unchallenged dictator, the Vatican said Saturday it has renewed its agreement with the Chinese Communist Party. This is the second renewal since the deal was brokered in 2018, though there’s little progress on religious freedom to show for it. Its main contribution has been to mute…

Saints at Work: Two Inspiring Catholic priests martyred by Nazis in Italy, now beatified… Here are their stories

Saints at Work: Two Inspiring Catholic priests martyred by Nazis in Italy, now beatified… Here are their stories

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…

A look back at Queen Elizabeth II’s encounters with Five Popes

A look back at Queen Elizabeth II’s encounters with Five Popes

(CNA)—Queen Elizabeth II passed away today, on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Royal Family already had gathered in Balmoral Castle Thursday amid concerns for Queen Elizabeth II’s health, Catholic bishops in England and Wales have offered their prayers for her and her family. Queen Elizabeth, who turned 96 in…

Was Peter’s Pence used to finance investments like the now infamous London property deal?

Was Peter’s Pence used to finance investments like the now infamous London property deal?

CNA—The Vatican’s “trial of the century”, scheduled to continue in September, has so far offered plenty of drama and raised numerous unanswered questions. One of the most sensitive, not just for Catholics who have donated money to the Vatican, is this: Was Peter’s Pence used to finance investments like the now infamous London property deal?…

Vatican’s financial watchdog sees rise in suspicious activity reports in 2021

Vatican’s financial watchdog sees rise in suspicious activity reports in 2021

CNA—The Vatican’s financial watchdog authority reported on Monday that it received 104 suspicious activity reports in 2021, an increase from the previous year. In a 35-page annual report, released on June 13, the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF) said that it submitted 21 reports to the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice (prosecutor), the highest number…

Pope Francis sets Ash Wednesday (March 2) as day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine

Pope Francis sets Ash Wednesday (March 2) as day of prayer and fasting for Ukraine

Vatican News (by Tiziana Campisi and Felipe Herrera)—As concerns about the war in Ukraine grow around the world, Cardinals Kurt Koch and Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot – presidents respectively of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue – joined the appeal for peace launched by the Pope…

How to get a plenary indulgence any day this November 2021

How to get a plenary indulgence any day this November 2021

CNA—Did you know that you can get a plenary indulgence any day this November? It’s true. The Vatican has decided to grant Catholics who visit a cemetery to pray for the dead on any day in the month of November a plenary indulgence. Usually, the Catholic Church only grants this plenary indulgence for the souls…

Archbishop announces his archdiocese won’t take part in global synodal process, citing ‘ideological’ risk

Archbishop announces his archdiocese won’t take part in global synodal process, citing ‘ideological’ risk

CNA—A Catholic leader has said that his archdiocese won’t take part in the two-year global synodal process, saying that it would run “the risk of becoming ideological.” Archbishop Wolfgang Haas of Vaduz, Liechtenstein, announced his decision on Oct. 15, 2021. “I am of the opinion that in our small archdiocese it is possible for good…

Benedict XVI: Legalization of same-sex marriage is ‘a distortion of conscience’

Benedict XVI: Legalization of same-sex marriage is ‘a distortion of conscience’

CNA—Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has said that the legalization of same-sex marriage in many countries is “a distortion of conscience” which has also entered some Catholic circles. In an introduction to a new anthology of his writings on Europe, Benedict XVI said that “with the legalization of ‘same-sex marriage’ in 16 European countries, the issue…

Benedict XVI praying ‘fervently’ for Pope Francis’ recovery from surgery

Benedict XVI praying ‘fervently’ for Pope Francis’ recovery from surgery

CNA—Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is praying for Pope Francis after he underwent intestinal surgery on Sunday. Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict’s personal secretary, told Italian media that the retired pope “lovingly directs his thoughts to Pope Francis and fervently prays for him,” the German section of Vatican News reported. Pope Francis is recovering at Rome’s Gemelli…

What changes may be coming to the College of Cardinals in 2021?

What changes may be coming to the College of Cardinals in 2021?

CNA—When Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako turns 80 on Feb. 27, the cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave will drop to 127, seven more than the limit of 120 set by Paul VI and confirmed by John Paul II. In 2021, five more cardinals will turn 80, and thus age out of voting in the…

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