Pope prays for victims of Wisconsin tragedy (Vatican News) Pope Francis said he is close to all those who have been affected by a tragic incident caused by a driver who plowed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha in the suburbs of Milwaukee on Sunday. In a telegram, signed on his behalf by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope assures the community where the incident took place of his spiritual closeness and prayers…
Pope has “strictly private” meeting with Italy’s bishops (CNA) Pope Francis spoke with the Italian bishops’ conference on Monday afternoon in what was a “strictly private” meeting, according to the Vatican. The two-hour encounter took place at the Ergife Palace Hotel and Conference Center, around three miles from the Vatican, for the opening session of the bishops’ 75th Extraordinary General Assembly…
Relic of John Paul II stolen from basilica (CNA) The rector of the Polish Catholic Mission in Argentina, Father Jorge Jacek Twarog, reported Sunday that the relic of Saint John Paul II, which was kept in Blessed Sacrament Basilica in Buenos Aires, was stolen. The relic, which came to Argentina from Poland in 2016, consists of a drop of the blood of Saint John Paul II held in a small square shaped case with a golden frame and mounted on a metal representation of the pope’s papal coat of arms…
Pastor injured in robbery forgives attackers (CNS) Three days after he was pistol-whipped and robbed, the pastor of St. Leo the Great Parish in Baltimore’s Little Italy said he has been overwhelmed by support from his parish and the wider community as he heals from his injuries and takes time to come to terms with what happened. “My message for (the man and woman who did this) is that they should consider a change of life and look at things differently and realize that doing violence and crime just makes a bad situation worse,” said Pallottine Father Bernard Carman…