As he prepared to leave his position as Franciscan custos of the Holy Land after nine years of service, Father Francesco Patton told OSV News that the time he has spent in the Holy Land as the superior of all Franciscans in the Middle East and the guardian of Catholic holy places in the region has been the most “important formative” experience of his life, and has “pushed him to dream” of a world without borders.
World
Sub-Saharan Africa has replaced Europe as the locus for the world’s Christians, due to both higher birthrates and Western Europe’s “widespread Christian disaffiliation” — with Christians declining as a share of the world’s population due to adherents leaving the faith, according to new research by the Pew Research Center.
The Council of Nicaea 1,700 years ago recognized that Christian unity had to be based on a common faith and should be demonstrated by a common celebration of Easter, the most sacred feast of the Christian year, said speakers at a Rome conference.
In a compelling address to the Sydney Catholic Business Network, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney revealed that a “second spring” of Catholic faith is underway across Sydney and beyond, challenging popular narratives of religious decline.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will “be a dear brother and collaborator … for the rapprochement of our churches, for the unity of the whole Christian family, and for the benefit of all of humankind.”
Catholic groups are welcoming Pope Leo XIV — the second pope from the Americas, and the first U.S.-born pontiff — who was elected May 8, the second day of the papal conclave.
Only through loving others and accepting love in spite of one’s own failures can Christians truly understand and proclaim the joy of Christ’s victory over death, French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille said.
For the second year in a row, few foreign pilgrims were in attendance at the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives into the Old City of Jerusalem due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip; but even the gray skies that threatened rain didn’t dampen the spirit of the 4,000 participants.
The Little Flower and the Great Doctor: Àvila, Lisieux to hold events commemorating Carmelite saints
While millions of pilgrims hope to make their way to Rome for the Jubilee Year, Catholics in France and Spain will also have reason to stay in their countries as their respective churches prepare to commemorate two of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints: Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Teresa of Ávila.
For centuries, pilgrims came to Assisi to walk in the footsteps of a saint who preached to birds, embraced poverty, and wandered the hills barefoot. But today, many arrive in search of a different model of holiness: that of a teenager in Nike sneakers who built websites and coded for Christ.