Catholic News

Religious sisters of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, sing as the process with the body of their late foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, on May 29, 2023, at their abbey near Gower, Missouri. The sisters exhumed the nun's body on May 18 and discovered that it was apparently intact, four years after her death and burial in a simple wooden coffin. / Joe Bukuras/CNA Gower, Missouri, May 29, 2023 / 20:02 pm (CNA). The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, an African American nun whose surprisingly intact remains have created a sensation at a remote Missouri abbey, was placed inside a glass display case Monday after a solemn procession led by members of the community she […]

When Pope Pius IX declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8, 1854, he had a golden crown added to the mosaic of Mary, Virgin Immaculate, in the Chapel of the Choir in St. Peter's Basilica. / Daniel Ibañez/CNA Vatican City, May 29, 2023 / 10:30 am (CNA). From Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Pieta to a 12th-century painting brought into the basilica in 1578 in a solemn procession, St. Peter's Basilica contains priceless sacred art depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Francisco Cornejo of Storybook is awarded the grand prize at “Catholic Shark Tank.” / Credit: Courtesy photo/SENT Washington D.C., May 29, 2023 / 07:00 am (CNA). In a “Shark Tank”-style competition with a twist, Catholic founders recently pitched their startups and faced questions from a panel of judges while highlighting the importance of the Catholic faith in their businesses. The event was the culmination of the SENT Ventures Summit at The Catholic University of America last month, a gathering of Catholic CEOs and founders looking to foster connections and grow in their faith. Zak Slayback, a partner with the 1517 Fund, a venture capital fund supporting startups at early […]

Father Emil Kapaun celebrating Mass using the hood of a jeep as his altar, Oct. 7, 1950. Public domain. / null Denver, Colo., May 29, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA). After several years in the making, the United States Post Office in Herington, Kansas, will be changing its name to the Captain Emil J. Kapaun Post Office Building on May 30. This endeavor was first introduced in 2021 through a bill written by U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann, who wished to honor the life of the great Kansan and American hero.“Father Emil Kapaun was a man of God who served Jesus and his country honorably,” Mann said during his speech on the House floor on Oct. 20, 2021.The May 30 ceremonial day will begin at 11:30 a.m. CST […]

Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI Hall on January 26, 2022. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA Vatican City, May 29, 2023 / 04:30 am (CNA). Topics covered include information overload, constant scrolling, not giving others one’s full attention, being an “influencer,” and more.

Thousands of pilgrims have lined up at the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower, Missouri, to view the remains of Sr. Wilhelmina Lancaster. / null Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 28, 2023 / 14:05 pm (CNA). Thousands of pilgrims are descending on a Benedictine abbey outside rural Gower, Missouri, this Memorial Day weekend to view the surprisingly well-preserved body of its African American foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, who died in 2019.On Sunday, the feast of Pentecost, an average of 200 vehicles per hour were coming onto the abbey's property, an uptick in traffic from the day before, Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish said in a Facebook video update. He said he expected 15,000 […]

Pope Francis delivers the Regina Caeli address from the window of the Apostolic Palace on May 28, 2023. / Vatican Media Vatican City, May 28, 2023 / 07:15 am (CNA). From the Philippines to Portugal, Marian shrines around the world will participate in a special day of prayer this Wednesday for the work of the synod.

Pope Francis presides over Pentecost Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on May 28, 2023. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Vatican City, May 28, 2023 / 05:15 am (CNA). “Let us put the Holy Spirit back at the center of the Church; otherwise, our hearts will not be consumed by love for Jesus but by love for ourselves.”

Depiction of the Holy Spirit in St. Peter’s Basilica. / Paolo Gallo / Shutterstock. Denver, Colo., May 28, 2023 / 02:00 am (CNA). This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.  Here’s what you need to know about the feast day.The timing and origins of PentecostPentecost always occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus and 10 days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.The timing of these feasts is also […]

Pope Francis shakes hands with film director Martin Scorsese and his wife Helen Morris. One day after suffering from a fever, Pope Francis resumed his normal activities, including meeting with participants in a conference on “The Global Aesthetics of the Catholic Imagination,” organized by Jesuit magazine “La Civiltà Cattolica” and Georgetown University, in the Apostolic Palace on May 27, 2023. / Vatican Media Rome Newsroom, May 27, 2023 / 07:09 am (CNA). The pope had canceled meetings in the morning May 26 due to a fever.

Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov's Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene (1835) / null Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 27, 2023 / 06:00 am (CNA). Catholics recognize Easter — when Jesus Christ rose from the dead after sacrificing his life for all of humanity — as the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. But, as it turns out, they can continue saying “Happy Easter” into May or, in some years, into June.Easter lasts for a total of 50 days, from Easter Sunday until the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Christ. This year, 2023, Easter was on April 9 and runs until this Sunday, May 28. Easter […]

The Vatican on April 2, 2022, announced that Pope Francis had appointed Father Earl K. Fernandes to be the next bishop of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. / Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Denver Newsroom, May 26, 2023 / 15:40 pm (CNA). Ohio’s Catholic Diocese of Columbus will close 15 churches as part of a parish reorganization and merger plan, but Bishop Earl K. Fernandes emphasized new possibilities for growth, especially if lay Catholics take on more responsibility for the Church’s future.“When I arrived, I said I’m not interested in presiding over 25 years of decline in the diocese,” the bishop said in a May 25 video series at the diocese’s YouTube channel. “I […]

Photos of the man who allegedly set a fire at St. Mary's Cathedral and charged at two staff members on May 19, 2023. / Calgary Police Department Boston, Mass., May 26, 2023 / 14:15 pm (CNA). Local police in Canada are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a man who allegedly set a fire and assaulted two men at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Calgary, located in the western province of Alberta.Police responded early in the morning to reports of a “deliberately set fire” at the cathedral on May 19, the Calgary Police Department said in a May 25 statement.Two staff members at the cathedral heard a “commotion” outside and opened the back door to see what it was, the statement […]

A young man touches a religious statue to the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, on May 18, 2023, at the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles monastery in Gower, Missouri. / Used with permission. CNA Newsroom, May 26, 2023 / 13:45 pm (CNA). Expert morticians are scratching their heads at the recently exhumed body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, a Benedictine nun who died in 2019 and now appears to be in an unexpected state of preservation.The reactions come a week after the abbess and sisters of the community that she founded, the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, unearthed the 95-year-old African American religious sister’s simple wooden coffin on May 18 […]

A statue of St. Junipero Serra, which was defaced and torn down by protesters Oct. 12, 2020, at Mission San Rafael Arcangel in San Rafael, California. Courtesy photo. Denver, Colo., May 26, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA). Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said Thursday that prosecutors’ decision to reduce the charge against activists who destroyed a parish’s statue of a saint from felony to misdemeanor sends the signal that attacks against the Catholic Church can continue with impunity.“It is clear to me that this course of action would not have been taken with anyone else. In fact, if the same kind of offense had been committed against another religious congregation or group, […]

Archbishop Pérez is encouraging Catholics throughout the five-county region to show continued respect and care for every person this Pentecost Sunday with a prayer for healing and peace in our city and country.

Bishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva succeeds Cardinal Mario Poli as archbishop of Buenos Aires. / YouTube/Diócesis Río Gallegos - Argentina Vatican City, May 26, 2023 / 10:05 am (CNA). As a priest, Bishop García Cuerva was a prison chaplain in the province of Buenos Aires and both the diocesan and regional delegates for prison ministry.

Read Msgr. Joseph Prior’s reflection on the readings of the Holy Mass for Pentecost Sunday.

Planned Parenthood hosts a rally for funding abortion for Medicaid recipients on the state capitol's steps in January. / YouTube/Uprise RI Washington D.C., May 26, 2023 / 09:10 am (CNA). Last Thursday Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee signed a bill extending abortion coverage to Medicaid and health insurance plans used by state workers.Rhode Island joins 16 other states funding abortion through Medicaid, despite a federal policy known as the Hyde Amendment prohibiting the use of tax dollars to pay for abortion.Because Medicaid is jointly funded by the state and federal government, tax dollar funding for abortion through Medicaid is severely restricted in most states.So, how can Rhode Island […]

The South Philly site’s patriotic concert stressed the joys of sacrifice.

Father Frederick Lenczycki (left) admitted to abusing more than 30 children in three states; Bishop Joseph Imesch of the Diocese of Joliet had recommended him for a transfer without disclosing allegations against the priest. / Credit: Illinois Department of Corrections; Diocese of Joliet Washington D.C., May 26, 2023 / 07:50 am (CNA). The Illinois attorney general’s “Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois,” released Tuesday, found nearly 2,000 substantiated claims of child sex abuse from 541 Catholic clerics over 70 years and alleged numerous examples of intentional cover-ups and inadequate responses from bishops. “Decades of Catholic leadership decisions and […]

Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 24, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA Rome Newsroom, May 26, 2023 / 07:07 am (CNA). The pope’s appointments were canceled Friday because he has a fever.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA / null Denver, Colo., May 25, 2023 / 14:55 pm (CNA). Three former students at a Massachusetts Catholic high school have filed a lawsuit against Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley and other Church leaders because of alleged abuse committed by the school’s vice principal.Attorney Mitchell Garabedian on Monday announced that he had filed a May 5 lawsuit in Suffolk County Superior Court on behalf of three former students at Arlington Catholic High School in the northwest Boston suburb of Arlington.The plaintiffs, who are not named in court papers, allege that former vice principal Stephen Biagioni abused them from about 2011 to […]

Some 30 young adults gathered for a young adult retreat May 13 at St. David Parish in Willow Grove led by Catholic speaker, author, and evangelist Chika Anyanwu.

null / Shutterstock. CNA Newsroom, May 25, 2023 / 13:15 pm (CNA). South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Thursday prohibiting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy that goes into effect immediately.The Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, passed the Republican-controlled Senate Tuesday in a 27-19 vote, a week after the House passed the bill. The new law includes exceptions for rape and incest, the life of the mother, and fetal abnormalities up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. “With my signature, the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act is now law and will begin saving the lives of unborn children immediately,” the Republican governor said. “This is a […]

Cardinal Mario Grech, who serves as secretary general of the global Synod on Synodality, speaks to EWTN Rome Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser for an exclusive interview that aired on EWTN on May 22, 2023. / EWTN Vatican Rome Newsroom, May 25, 2023 / 12:45 pm (CNA). While he believes “a synodal Church is a more spiritual Church,” Cardinal Mario Grech emphasized that the Church “is not a democracy.”

Seniors from Catholic high schools throughout region gathered at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul May 23 for an annual event celebrating their academic achievements.

See scenes from the 43rd Annual Academic Honors Convocation May 23 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

Archbishop Pérez ordained seven men to the Priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on Saturday, May 20 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Baccalaureate Masses and Commencement Exercises scheduled at Catholic schools throughout the five counties of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.