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The Pope’s 8-Hour Visit to Venice: A Prison, Young People and the Famous Basilica of Saint Mark

The main reason for the Pontiff’s trip to Venice is to take part in Venice’s Biennial, where the Holy See will have a pavilion. The Biennial is one of the most important artistic events in the world.

The post The Pope’s 8-Hour Visit to Venice: A Prison, Young People and the Famous Basilica of Saint Mark appeared first on ZENIT - English.

Interview: Pope Francis’ foreign minister on Gaza, Ukraine and the future of the church in China


Does the Holy See think Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza? Did Pope Francis call on Ukraine to surrender? Gerard O’Connell asks these questions and more in an exclusive interview with Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

The sometimes-savage perfection of Catholic parody


Parody, Ernest Hemingway said, is a step up from writing on the wall above the urinal. He was wrong.

Survey: U.S. Catholics worry about climate change—but don’t rank it as a top issue

A man wraps his shirt over his face as he tries to extinguish a fire, near the seaside resort of Lindos, on the Aegean Sea island of Rhodes, southeastern Greece, on July 24, 2023. Among other regions, Europe is facing growing climate risks and is unprepared for them, the European Environment Agency said on March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
Almost four out of five U.S. Catholics said they “have a moral responsibility” to combat climate change. But there are strong differences between Democrats and Republicans on environmental issues.

My daughter told me to give up criticizing myself for Lent. Thank God she did.


When my grown daughter let me know how my words had impacted her, I regretted every time I said something negative about my body, not realizing the harm I was imprinting on my perfectly made young girls.

Archbishop Lori calls for prayers after Baltimore Key Bridge collapse


The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed about 1:30 a.m. March 26 after a 900-foot container ship collided with one of its major support pilings.

Pope writes meditations for Via Crucis at Colosseum, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For the first time in his 11-year papacy, Pope Francis has chosen to write his own meditations for the Good Friday Way of the Cross service at Rome's Colosseum, the head of the Vatican press office said.

For the service March 29, Pope Francis has chosen the theme "In prayer with Jesus on the way of the cross," Matteo Bruni, the press office director, told reporters March 26.

St. John Paul II began a tradition in 1985 of entrusting the writing of the meditations to cardinals and other church personalities, well-known writers or groups of people, including young people and journalists. However, he wrote the reflections himself for the Colosseum ceremony during the Holy Year 2000.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote the meditations for Good Friday 2005, less than a month before being elected Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout his pontificate, though, he entrusted the drafting to different people each year.

Pope Francis at the Colosseum
Pope Francis leads the Way of the Cross outside the Colosseum in Rome April 15, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The meditations in 2023 focused on the theme, "Voices of peace in a world at war." Several dicasteries of the Roman Curia formulated the prayers and meditations drawing from comments made at meetings with Pope Francis by people suffering from a lack of peace.

Pope Francis has asked Catholics to observe 2024 as a year of prayer in preparation for the Holy Year 2025.

The choice of "in prayer with Jesus" as the theme for the Way of the Cross, Bruni told reporters, is an indication that it will be "an act of meditation and spirituality with Jesus at the center."

Vatican News reported the meditations will have fewer direct references to current events than many previous editions had when migrants and refugees, victims of trafficking or people from countries at war helped write or inspired the reflections.

Bruni also told reporters that as of March 26 Pope Francis was still planning on attending the service. However, the weather and the pope's health will be the deciding factors. Released from the hospital just five days before Good Friday 2023, Pope Francis did not go to the Colosseum.

 

Bishop Burbidge Invites Faithful to Prayer as Supreme Court Hears Case on Abortion Drugs

WASHINGTON – “Abortion is not health care, and no child should experience such violence,” said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington. As the Supreme Court of the United States hears oral argument in Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, Bishop Burbidge, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities said today, “With dangerous abortion drugs now making up the majority of abortions and increasing in use, we pray that the Supreme Court will restore the Food and Drug Administration’s safeguards for the health of women and protect more preborn children.” His full statement follows:

“With dangerous abortion drugs now making up the majority of abortions and increasing in use, we pray that the Supreme Court will restore the Food and Drug Administration’s safeguards for the health of women and protect more preborn children. The FDA’s diminishing safety standards in recent years means that a woman, for example, can now be led to order a chemical abortion pill online without seeing a doctor in person to make sure that she does not have a complicating condition and that she has not been pregnant for longer than the approved ten-week limit.

“Abortion is not health care, and no child should experience such violence. At the same time, a vulnerable mother who obtains an abortion must not be left alone without medical care afterwards.  In addition, we ourselves are to make present to her God’s mercy and love, which are, as we see especially now in Holy Week, without end.

“Yesterday, on the eve of oral argument, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, and I made an invitation to prayer for an end to abortion and for the protection of women and preborn children. We encourage you to join in this prayer until the Court’s decision, and to search for ways in your community to help support mothers in need and make abortion unthinkable.”

The USCCB submitted an amicus brief in this case in February. Archbishop Broglio’s and Bishop Burbidge’s invitation to prayer may be found at https://www.usccb.org/prolife/nationwide-invitation-prayer. For more information on chemical abortion drugs, visit https://www.usccb.org/chemical-abortion-fact-sheets.

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Bl. Sebastian Valfré—When it is all over, you will not regret having suffered …

When it is all over, you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little and suffered that little so badly. — Bl. Sebastian Valfré

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