News
Pope Leo faces crisis as a traditionalist group plans bishop consecrations without consent
4+ hour, 34+ min ago (560+ words) VATICAN CITY'Pope Leo XIV is facing his first major crisis with traditionalist Catholics, after a breakaway group attached to the traditional Latin Mass announced plans to consecrate new bishops without papal consent in a threatened revival of schism. The Swiss-based…...
Catholicism shrinks in Latin America while more are religiously unaffiliated, Pew surveys find
1+ week, 6+ day ago (743+ words) Catholicism in Latin American countries has shrunk over the last decade, while a growing percentage of adults identify as religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular." Those are among the key findings in a report released…...
Pope disappointed over approval of assisted suicide legislation in his home state of Illinois
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (349+ words) CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy'Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he was "very disappointed" that his home state of Illinois had approved a law allowing for medically assisted suicide, and he called for greater respect for life. Leo said he had spoken "explicitly…...
Pope names fellow Chicagoan, Bishop Ronald Hicks, as new archbishop of New York
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (1127+ words) VATICAN CITY'Pope Leo XIV on Thursday made his most important U.S. appointment to date, naming a fellow Chicagoan as the next archbishop of New York to lead one of the biggest U.S. archdioceses as it navigates relations with the Trump administration and…...
Prayer hands, closed fists: Religious leaders react to treatment of immigrants
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (1734+ words) As lore has it, on this day in 1531 the Virgin Mary appeared to the Indigenous worker Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill and left the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe on his cloak. Fidel Martinez delves into the latest stories…...
Pilgrims flock to Mexico City basilica to celebrate the Virgin of Guadalupe
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (1201+ words) MEXICO CITY'Edivaldo Hern'ndez Villar crawled on his knees toward the Basilica of Guadalupe, wincing and whispering prayers. It was the final stretch of a punishing four-day pilgrimage to Mexico's most venerated shrine, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary miraculously appeared…...
Pope Leo XIV delivers peace message to 150,000 at Beirut Mass
2+ mon, 22+ hour ago (1015+ words) BEIRUT'With a rainbow adorning the early morning sky, tens of thousands converged on Beirut's waterfront on Tuesday to attend public prayers led by Pope Leo XIV the culmination of an international debut that saw the U.S.-born pontiff repeatedly call for…...
Commentary: Can opposing Trump's deportation machine help Catholic Church regain its moral mojo?
2+ mon, 2+ week ago (604+ words) When millions of European immigrants came to the United States in the 19th century only to be scorned by mainstream society, it was the Catholic Church that embraced them, taught that keeping the customs of one's native lands was not bad…...
In a sign of change, American cardinal celebrates old Latin Mass at Vatican
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (971+ words) VATICAN CITY'A top American cardinal celebrated a traditional Latin Mass this weekend in St. Peter's Basilica with the explicit permission of Pope Leo XIV, thrilling traditionalist Catholics who felt abandoned after Pope Francis sharply restricted the ancient liturgy. A few…...
Vatican will return dozens of artifacts to Indigenous groups in Canada as reconciliation gesture
3+ mon, 1+ week ago (785+ words) VATICAN CITY'The Vatican is expected to soon announce that it will return a few dozen artifacts to Indigenous communities in Canada as part of its reckoning with the Catholic Church's troubled role in helping suppress Indigenous culture in the Americas,…...