Read & Reflect

St. Bernadette’s Relics Are Coming to the U.S.

Fourteen-year-old Marie Bernarde “Bernadette” Soubirous had never been considered an important person. She had a hard time in class and struggled with asthma-like symptoms. However, on February 11, 1858, she was searching for firewood near the grotto of Lourdes when she encountered a mysterious girl...

Food, Water, and the Dignity of the Dying: What Catholics Should Know About Artificial Nutrition and Hydration

“What does it mean to feed someone?” Every human being understands, almost instinctively, that food and water are not merely biological necessities. Think of a mother feeding her child, a wife bringing soup to her sick husband, a nurse moistening the lips of an elderly patient, a son helping his fra...

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on the Power of Hidden Souls

In the great mystery of God’s plan, it is hidden souls who He uses to unleash supernatural power in the world. In our worldliness, we think it is much more “useful” to be visible while working on grand plans and lofty goals with clear successes. This is not how the Lord sees things. He calls certain...

[Daily Rosary Meditations] Set in Stone

[Daily Rosary Meditations] St Peter Claver

Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine after Russian attacks

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday deplored the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine and voiced hopes for peace amid U.S.-led efforts to end the war.“With a sorrowful heart, I have followed the news of the latest violent attacks that have recently struck several cities and civilian infrastructures in Ukraine, caus...

Leo XIV: Mary’s simple presence — and her Son within her — moves all of history

ROME — It was shortly after 5 p.m. local time when Pope Leo XIV arrived at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, awaited by thousands of people along the road and welcomed by his fellow Augustinians.Not everyone could fit inside the church, and the streets of Genazzano, about 30 miles east of Rome...

China ordains 18th bishop under Vatican agreement

Father Andrew Ding Yang was ordained Tuesday, Sept. 8, as archbishop of Chongqing in southwestern China, a see that had been vacant since March 26, 2001.It was the fourth episcopal ordination celebrated since June 15 and the eighth during the pontificate of Leo XIV under the procedures established b...

Mary’s birthday: The Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Catholic Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on its traditional fixed date of Sept. 8, nine months after the Dec. 8 celebration of her immaculate conception as the child of Sts. Joachim and Anne.The circumstances of the Virgin Mary’s infancy and early life are not directly rec...

Pope Leo appoints coadjutor bishop for Puerto Rico’s youngest diocese

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday appointed a coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Fajardo-Humacao, the third bishop nomination for the island of Puerto Rico in under three months.Father Gerardo Antonio Vargas Cruz, OFM, as coadjutor will serve alongside Bishop Luis Francisco Miranda Rivera, OCarm, who has led...

Pope Leo XIV: Respect for human dignity ‘excludes self-centered isolation’

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV at his Wednesday general audience urged people to take responsibility for the dignity of each human person and to embrace an identity centered on gift of self.“This dignity is entrusted to the responsibility of each person: at the same time, it also demands solidarity and...