Pope at Chrism Mass: Priests must fix eyes on Christ (Vatican News) Being a priest is a very great grace, Pope Francis told priests on Holy Thursday, while reminding them it is a grace that is primarily for the good of the Christian faithful rather than for priests themselves. “Our people deserve and need” to be served by priests with clear consciences, the Pope said, inviting the gathered clergy to be faithful to God, by allowing themselves to be loved and forgiven by Him…
Pope will wash feet of 12 prisoners (CNA) On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at a prison outside of Rome, where he will wash the feet of 12 prisoners. The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will take place at the prison of Civitavecchia, a port town around 50 miles northwest of Rome, according to a press release from an Italian association of prison chaplains…
Pope Francis visits Benedict ahead of 95th birthday (CNA) Pope Francis visited Benedict XVI on Wednesday, ahead of the Pope emeritus’ 95th birthday. The Holy See press office said that the pope went to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, the retired German pope’s residence in Vatican City, shortly after 6 p.m. local time on April 13…
Researchers say they have rediscovered ancient altar in Holy Sepulchre (Reuters) Pressed against a wall in a back corridor of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a stone slab bore testimony only to the graffiti etched on it by multitudes of pilgrims through the ages. But the 2.5 x 1.5 metre stone turned out to be far more precious when its other side was exposed during recent renovations at the church, the traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. Researchers believe the elaborate looping ornaments they found on the long-hidden part of the slab indicate it was once the decorated front of a medieval high altar that took pride of place centuries ago in one of Christianity’s holiest sites…
The war has helped resurrect Poland’s Catholic Church (The Spectator) In my wife’s home city of Wroclaw, there’s a luxury hotel named after John Paul II. It has always seemed strange that the Catholic church sanctioned this. Giant chandeliers and glitzy bathrooms weren’t really what St John Paul stood for, and since the hotel opened in 2002 it had seemed as much a monument to the church’s decline as a tribute to a saint. But everything changed with the war in Ukraine. Some 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since Russia’s invasion and the hotel is currently home to more than 100 refugees. It’s as if the building has finally discovered its real purpose…
“COVID Catholics” lean on Eucharist for strength (Arkansas Catholic) When the Plummer family walked into St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Waldron in early 2020 for the first time, it was a moment that was about 10 years in the making. From Trey Plummer’s time as a Southern Baptist minister to his wife Evanie’s solid faith upbringing in nondenominational and later Assembly of God churches, they were on a righteous path, but were unsure of the destination. For the high school sweethearts and their three children, they found it in the Eucharist. The family joined the Church at Easter 2021, finding the beauty of Catholicism despite the COVID-19 pandemic…
