News & Commentary

Pope Francis waves to a crowd of well-wishers at Rome's Gemelli hospital before returning to the Vatican March 23, 2025, after 38 days of treatment at the hospital.

Pope returns to Vatican after long hospitalization

Immediately before leaving Rome's Gemelli hospital after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and infections, Pope Francis greeted hundreds of people who gathered outside the hospital March 23.
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Catholic leaders applaud decision to commute Julius Jones’ death sentence

Catholic opponents of the death penalty, including Oklahoma City's archbishop, praised the Nov. 18 announcement that the Oklahoma governor granted death-row inmate Julius Jones clemency—just hours before he was scheduled to be executed.
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U.S. bishops focus on Communion, synodality, finances in fall assembly

The U.S. bishops, gathered for the first time in person since 2019, discussed the highly anticipated statement on the Eucharist without the heated discussion it stirred up in their previous meeting.
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Maryland couple donates spruce as Rockefeller Center’s Christmas tree

The sleepy streets of Cecil County, Maryland, near the University of Delaware and White Clay Creek State Park were buzzing with activity the morning of Nov. 11, as one of the most iconic holiday symbols in the United States began ...
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Laudato Si’ Action Platform set to integrate encyclical into church life

The Vatican's seven-year plan to widen the reach of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical on the environment is just what the church needs in a time of global climate change in the mind of Father Emmet Farrell, a retired priest living ...
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Peace requires global disarmament, pope says

Criticizing the "abused idea" of deterrence through the stockpiling of weapons, Pope Francis called for integral disarmament worldwide in his message sent to the Paris Peace Forum.
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N.J. priest finished New York City Marathon with personal best time

Father Manuel Duenas, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark and current vice rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Kearny, New Jersey, was among 33,000 participants in the New York City Marathon Nov. 7.
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