Red-Letter Advent: Awakening consciences to nascent mystery Mary Glowrey, front, tends to children in the dispensary that would become St Joseph’s Hospital in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh in India. PhotoS: from the Glowrey Papers with permission of the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga. “Every beginning brings a special grace, because it is blessed b...

While a Cardinal, Pope asked for swift action against abusive priests Pope John Paul II embraces Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in 1978. Photo: CNS By John Thavis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY - A newly disclosed letter reveals that as early as 1988, the future Pope Benedict XVI pressed for swifter and more streamlined procedures to punish priests guilty...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The feast of Corpus Christi is an important occasion for Catholics to renew their faith in the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI said. St Juliana, who Pope Benedict XVI held up as a model for "zeal for the Eucharistic cult". Photo: CNS own mediaeval nun who was the first to promote the creation of a feast celebrating t...

By John Thavis Analysis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY - In a new book, Pope Benedict XVI said the use of condoms may be a sign of moral responsibility in some specific situations when the intention is to reduce the risk of AIDS. The Pope addressed the issue in the book-length interview, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, which was to be released on 2...

In new book, Pope addresses sex abuse, kneeling to receive Communion, possible resignation By John Thavis Catholic News Service ROME - Pope Benedict XVI’s book-length interview is certain to spark global attention, and not only for his comments suggesting that condom use might be acceptable in some circumstances. In the 219-page book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and ...

VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) - Benedict XVI has underlined the importance of the Word of God in living our personal vocations: our lifelong call to holiness and the specific call of each person.

 These were some of the points highlighted by the Pope in his latest apostolic exhortation, Verbum Domini, published on 11 November by the Vatican. The Word of God, he said, “calls each one o...

Pope Benedict XVI has asked every diocesan Bishop in the world to join him in a vigil for life on November 27. Perth will be joining him. By Bronia Karniewicz Archdiocesan Respect Life Office Catholics around the world, including Perth, will join Pope Benedict XVI in a Vigil for Life, praying “for protection of every human being called into existence” on Saturday, 27 November. ...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Before the speech-giving began at the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, Pope Benedict XVI offered participants an unusual reflection on the threat of “false gods” that beset the modern world. A participant takes a photo before the opening session of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in the synod hall at the Vatican on 11 October. Photo: CNS/Pau...

Pontifical North American College seminarians Keith D. Romke of the Diocese of Rockford, Ill., Mark R. Payton of the Archdiocese of Perth, Australia, and George K. Nixon of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., are seen after being ordained deacons in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 7. Thirty seminarians from the U.S. national seminary were ordained deacons. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) (Oct. 7...

MADRID, Spain (CNA) - The postulator of Pope John Paul II’s cause for beatification has said that the process is currently at a crucial moment as miracles attributed to the late Pontiff’s intercession are being investigated. Polish Mgr Slawomir Oder in Rome in 2007 when he gave details on the investigation into the healing of a French nun, whose spontaneous recovery from Park...