News
Religious leaders urge Congress to end budget brinksmanship
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Christian leaders, including representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called on President Barack Obama and congressional leaders of both parties to "frame the budget debate in terms of moral choices that are understandable to the American people" and find a budget solution that protects the poorest Americans.
Pope Benedict to be ‘pope emeritus’ or ‘Roman pontiff emeritus’
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI will continue to be known as Pope Benedict and addressed as “His Holiness,” but after his resignation, he will add the title “emeritus” in one of two acceptable forms, either “pope emeritus” or “Roman pontiff emeritus.” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said decisions about how the […]
New York’s Cardinal Dolan: Happy warrior of the new evangelization
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Popes are elected by members of the College of Cardinals, not by the general Catholic population and certainly not by the media. Yet Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan's presence on practically every journalist's list of potential next popes bespeaks a real and important influence among his peers. The most obvious reason is the New York archbishop's ebullient, extroverted personality and quick, frequently self-deprecating wit -- traits that forcefully contrast with the formality typically associated with princes of the church, but which visibly charmed other participants at the February 2012 consistory at which Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal.
Young, new Philippine cardinal has extensive international ties
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At 55, Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila, Philippines, is one of the youngest and newest members of the College of Cardinals, but he is also one of the cardinals most frequently mentioned as a possible pope. His youthful energy, his pastoral experience, his theological training and his communications skills impressed cardinals and bishops from around the world even before Pope Benedict XVI inducted him into the College of Cardinals last November.
Cardinal Ravasi, Bible scholar, uses culture as bridge to unite people
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A prominent voice at the Vatican in the run-up to the papal election, Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is a well-known biblical scholar who can quote just as easily from Sufi poets, Dante and Danish philosophers as he can from sacred Scripture. The 70-year-old president of the Pontifical Council for Culture has been leading the universal church's efforts to develop a nonconfrontational dialogue with nonbelievers, trying to make Christianity intelligible to the modern mind and build a reason-based consensus on key moral issues.
Indian cardinal says next pope must be holy, intelligent, courageous
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai said he will look for a new pope who is holy, intelligent and courageous and has "a breadth of vision" for the universal church and its role in the world. Since Pope Benedict XVI said he planned to resign Feb. 28 because of age and a lack of the energy needed to fulfill the papal ministry, Cardinal Gracias, 68, said age could be a factor "to some extent, but I don't think it will be the deciding factor."
Statement from the Holy See and the Pontifical Council for the Family
Released Feb. 25, 2013 at 6 a.m. EST, in Vatican City On June 3, 2012, at the Closing Mass of the VII World Meeting of Families in Milan, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, announced to a congregation of approximately one million Catholic faithful that the next international gathering of families would take place in the […]
A brief history of the World Meeting of Families
Overview: Since it began in 1994, the World Meeting of Families has sought to strengthen the sacred bonds of family across the globe. This event takes place every three years and is sponsored by the Holy See’s Pontifical Council for the Family. The Pontifical Council for the Family: The Pontifical Council for the Family, founded […]
Philadelphia tapped to host World Meeting of Families in 2015, welcoming thousands, maybe a new pope
Global attention will turn to Philadelphia in three years when the city expects to welcome hundreds of thousands of families for the World Meeting of Families -- and possibly the new pope. Archbishop Charles Chaput led a morning press conference Feb. 25 to announce that the Vatican confirmed earlier in the day the long-anticipated selection of Sept. 22-27, 2015 as the date for the gathering of families, Catholic and non-Catholic, from around the world.
What the logo for World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia means
Learn how the distinctive logo contains elements of family, faith and Philadelphia -- the host city for the eighth World Meeting of Families and the first in an American city.