News & Commentary

Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first Mass as pope.

New pope calls for Christian witness in world that finds faith ‘absurd’

Where Christians are "mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied" is where the Catholic Church's "missionary outreach is most desperately needed," Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics.
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Churches, chaplains, nuns have unexpected role in COVID-19 crisis

In a nation where the faithful are not allowed to assemble for Mass, one church in northern Italy is full. The Church of All Saints in Bergamo — located in a cemetery in Italy’s hardest-hit Lombardy region — has had ...
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Chinese diocese donates masks to Vatican to fight COVID-19

A Catholic diocese in China's Shaanxi province has donated thousands of face masks to communities in the Vatican and Italy to help them fight the coronavirus.
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Holy sites closed after COVID-19 reports

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem urged its faithful to cooperate with the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health, following its order March 5 to close all schools, universities, mosques and churches, including the Church of the Nativity and ...
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Amid COVID-19 pandemic, pope prays for homeless

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — During his live-streamed daily morning Mass, Pope Francis prayed that the coronavirus pandemic may awaken people’s consciences to the plight of homeless men and women suffering in the world.
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People in masks with face shields and blue gowns

Providing care, prayer during COVID-19

NEW YORK (CNS) -- In early March, I sat with two other New York City emergency medicine colleagues as part of an interfaith sharing at Fordham University, "Where Faith and Medicine Intersect."
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The Pope during morning Mass at the Vatican

Christianity is a relationship, pope says

Christians must follow the Ten Commandments, of course, but Christianity is not about following rules, it is about having a relationship with Jesus, Pope Francis said.
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