Ahead of the fireworks and the flag-waving, and before the barbeques, ceremonies, and parades, American Catholics approaching the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence this Fourth of July may well pause to ask: Is all this pomp truly patriotism? And further: What is patriotism in the Catholic understanding, and how can it be practiced well?
02 Jul: Polish, Ukrainian cardinals call for reconciliation amid historical tensions between nations
Four years after Poles welcomed millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion, Catholic leaders from both countries are urging their peoples not to let historical disputes undo that solidarity as disputes over World War II history inflamed relations between Poland and Ukraine.
Pope Leo XIV spent what is traditionally his weekly day off on Tuesday issuing a flurry of legislation and appointments June 30, overhauling the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency, revising the governing structure of the Vicariate of Rome, and making several appointments in the Roman Curia.
Pope Leo XIV’s call for unity in diversity extends beyond greater communion within the Catholic Church and includes one’s wider community, some newly appointed U.S. archbishops said.
Pope Leo XIV has called on all Christians to work together toward the celebration of 2033, when the Catholic Church will mark an extraordinary Jubilee Year commemorating 2,000 years since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
After the Cursillo Center of Dallas opened its doors about 60 years ago, a question soon arose within the community: Could the transformative spiritual formation that the center offered to individual retreatants be brought into the home — that is, into the family — too? This year marks the 50th anniversary of the center’s resounding answer: the Jornada Familiar and Jornada Juvenil retreats.
As preparations begin for the 1,500th anniversary of the founding of Italy’s Monte Cassino, the mother abbey of Western monasticism established by St. Benedict in 529, the Benedictine Confederation has launched a new website designed to connect pilgrims, visitors, and spiritual seekers with monasteries around the world.
Pope Leo XIV’s second consistory gave cardinals from around the world an opportunity to candidly discuss issues ranging from synodality and artificial intelligence to the future of Catholic teaching on war, some participants told Catholic News Service.
On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Leo XIV personally placed the pallium on the shoulders of 35 metropolitan archbishops, urging them to follow the example of the patron saints of Rome in being “builders of unity” and “servants of the truth in charity.”
Five Catholic bishops from the United States-Mexico border region led a day of pastoral accompaniment in Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico, June 26 as the United States approaches its 250th birthday as a nation.