VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Today’s lush and immaculately manicured Vatican Gardens were once just a sprawl of mosquito-infested swamps, clay hillsides and hardy grape vines. The wild, unpopulated landscape on the fringes of early Rome slowly shifted as it changed to accommodate historical events over the course of 2,000 years: the martyrdom and burial of…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Confronting a rebel archbishop’s accusations and acts of defiance was the heaviest cross St. Paul VI had to bear in his pontificate, said a 2018 book based on never-before published notes and documents. After years of correspondence and efforts at convincing Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the traditionalist Society of St.…
ROME (CNS) — Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington said his decision to remove a high-profile priest as an archdiocesan exorcist was driven by the public way he exercised his ministry, not by his specific beliefs about UFOs. Following comments on social media linking UFOs to demonic activity, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti was removed in early…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hesitation and resistance to the Church’s synodal journey can be addressed with clearer explanations, better training and more hands-on experience of what synodality is, bishops representing North America said. “A very clear takeaway is the need for more formation in synodality, including its meaning, its methods and its spirituality,” Archbishop Paul…
LAMPEDUSA, Italy (CNS) — For more than 30 years, Dr. Pietro Bartolo said he has examined more than 350,000 people and performed postmortem examinations on those who died making the crossing to Lampedusa, where migrants rescued from the Mediterranean first arrived. One story, he said, has stayed with him. After a shipwreck near Malta, a…
WASHINGTON – Marking the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, Pope Leo XIV has addressed a letter to the American people. The U.S. bishops are grateful to the Holy Father for his inspiring message, and for his prayers as we commemorate this milestone anniversary of our nation. …