In 2015, Pope Francis shared an urgent message with the world. Writing in “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” he said the Earth “cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her.”
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Even when a person seems totally lost and unable to find a way back to God, the Lord is already looking for him or her, said the text for Pope Francis’ weekly general audience.
Over the past year, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Plano has seen significant — and unprecedented — growth in the parish’s Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. The growth has been “sudden,” according to Director of Faith Formation Bruce Baumann, who said that the program had essentially tripled its number of participants from the year before.
Christian joy is for everyone, not just for a privileged few, Pope Francis wrote.
Pope Francis has cleared the way for the canonizations of three blesseds: an Armenian Catholic archbishop martyred during the Armenian genocide, a lay catechist from Papua New Guinea killed during World War II, and a Venezuelan religious sister who dedicated her life to education and the poor.
The University of Notre Dame announced March 30 that Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the school’s Laetare Medal.
Pope Francis encouraged pilgrim groups visiting Rome for the Holy Year to be witnesses of hope and trust in God’s faithfulness, especially in moments of discouragement.
Father Rudy Garcia is set to unite with hundreds of priests in Rome for the Jubilee of Priests Instituted as “Missionaries of Mercy” on March 28-30. Surrounded by clergy from around the globe, Father Garcia will serve as the sole representative of the Diocese of Dallas: its only Missionary of Mercy.
Priests must recognize that it is a privilege to administer the sacrament of reconciliation and grant absolution, Pope Francis wrote.
The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics.