The Vatican has now launched a new multimedia communications website. Image: Sourced. By Cindy Wooden The Vatican has now launched a new multimedia communications website. Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication, Msgr Dario Vigano, announced the launch of the new site (in beta form) on 13 December. The Vatican Radio and Television Centre sites will stay accessible as archi...

Pope Francis greets Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a private meeting on 19 December at the Vatican. Photo: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano. By Junno Arocho Esteves Pope Francis met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the Vatican, two weeks after United States President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital provoked outrage in the Middle East. According to the ...

Father Joseph Espaillat, spiritual director for the Archdiocese of New York’s office of Youth Ministry, and Katherine Angulo, associate director of youth ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, are two of the four bilingual presenters for the new training series for youth ministry volunteers, “Called To Accompany.” The Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Office of Formation and Discipleship unveiled th...

The Christmas tree is seen as Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Photo: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden Advent is a time to make a renewed commitment to prayer and to caring for others, Pope Francis has said. “It is a time to recognise the holes to be filled in ou...

Pope Francis answers questions from journalists aboard his flight from Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Rome on December 2. Photo: CNS/Paul Haring. By Junno Arocho Esteves Men and women contemplating a vocation to the priesthood, consecrated life or marriage should not be afraid, because God wants only for them to experience the joy that comes from serving others, Pope Francis has said in his mess...

Pope Francis is greeted by children upon his arrival in Myanmar for a four day visit. Photo: CNS Photo/Paul Haring. By Cindy Wooden The plight of the ethnic Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state was front and centre in speeches by Pope Francis and Aung San Suu Kyi, but neither publicly used the word Rohingya. After private meetings on November 28 with Myanmarese President Htin...

People who are dying must be given love and professional care, but there is no requirement that every means available must be used to prolong their lives, according to Pope Francis. “Even if we know that we cannot always guarantee healing or a cure, we can and must always care for the living, without ourselves shortening their life, but also without futilely resisting their death,” the Holy Father said. By Cindy Wooden.

“The family born of marriage generates fruitful bonds, which prove to be the most effective antidote to the current rampant individualism,” Pope Francis has said. In a video message to participants in the Third International Symposium on Amoris Laetitia, the Holy Father said that on the path of conjugal love and family life, there are situations that require difficult decisions to be made with rectitude. By Catholic News Service

Pope Francis has this month sent a message to Australia’s young people ahead of the Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The Holy Father sent the message assuring youth of his prayers, spiritual closeness and hope that the festival will be an occasion for them to “deepen their relationship with the Lord”. The ACYF is scheduled to commence in Sydney on Thursday 7 November, 2017.

Parish Priest Fr Vinh Dong and Deacon Joseph Laundy welcomed more than 350 parishioners for the occasion, which also marked three years since the commencement of the parish, with the proposed new Church building to be named after the former Pontiff and now Saint. By Jamie O’Brien.