NEWS

Pope Francis celebrated a private Mass on Holy Thursday with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, the former prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes who was forced to resign amid an investigation into suspected financial malfeasance.

Lucia DeClerck has survived the 1918 influenza pandemic, two world wars, the loss of three husbands, one son and many of her physicians.

At parishes across the Archdiocese of Newark, the Easter Vigil will mark a significant milestone for catechumens ready to enter the fullness of the Catholic Church through the sacraments of initiation.

Living and preaching the Gospel always involves embracing "the cross," whether it be in the form of misunderstanding, hostility or outright persecution, Pope Francis told Rome priests gathered for the chrism Mass.

In new apostolic letter, Bishop Olmsted calls upon priests and laity to embrace a deeper love for and understanding of the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Catholic faith.

Asian and Pacific Islander Catholic groups and a number of Catholic bishops have joined their voices with others in calling for an end to violence and hate crimes against Americans of Asian and Pacific Island heritage.

That President Joe Biden is the second Catholic U.S. president is less in dispute among Americans than the practice of his faith, according to a poll released March 30 by the Pew Research Center.

Franciscan Father Gabriel Romero recalled a machete-wielding mob trying to break down the door to his migrant shelter in the middle of the night early this year. The friar blocked the door with his burly frame and yelled: "Back off!"

While fewer than half of American adults responding to a recent poll said they are members of a church, synagogue or mosque, the findings do not necessarily mean that people have lost faith in God, a pair of church observers said.

Before returning to Rome from Iraq March 8, Pope Francis left $350,000 to assist families still suffering the impact of conflict or in dire straits because of the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cardinal Louis Sako, the Baghdad-based patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church.