The Major Penitentiary encourages all the faithful to make good use of the sacraments during the feasts of All Saints and All Souls this weekend, both for ourselves and for those who “can no longer do it for themselves, but who can receive of our charity”.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, on Tuesday, released a letter to all the faithful on the occasion of the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of the faithful departed.

Palestine’s Christian population is dwindling at an alarming rate. The world’s most ancient Christian community is moving elsewhere. And the reason for this is Israel.

Christian leaders from Palestine and South Africa sounded the alarm at a conference in Johannesburg on October 15. Their gathering was titled: “The Holy Land: A Palestinian Christian Perspective”.

One major issue that highlighted itself at the meetings is the rapidly declining number of Palestinian Christians in Palestine.

When the country’s official unemployment rate is 19 per cent, and much higher among the educated youth, with nearly half of them planning on leaving the country, it becomes really hard for any well-balanced person with a little bit of touch with reality and people’s economic marginalization to understand or accept from a national interest perspective why an enormous national economic treasure, such as the baptism site, is not utilized enough to realize its enormous economic potential. It must be important to a great number of the 2.5 billion Christians living in the world!

Although often happening under the radar of the world media, a new report says persecution against Christians is getting worse in many parts of Asia, calling it a “regional hot spot.”

"The 2019 Persecuted and Forgotten" report from Aid to the Church in Need is warning that an “unholy trinity” of threats is facing Christians on the world’s most populous continent: Authoritarian regimes, extremism, and popularist nationalism.

On the surface of things, there’s no mystery how one ought to receive Communion: Stand up, file out of the pew, wait your turn in line, eat the Host, and head back to the pew. But beneath these mechanics of receiving, the mystery of the Eucharist requires much, much more. At the very least, how we receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ affects our potential sanctity. At worst, how we receive may cost us our lives, as St.

The Turkish invasion of northern Syria in the wake of President Donald Trump’s troop withdrawal from the region could put to the test Trump’s stated commitment to global freedom of worship for religious minorities.

The fighting between the Turks and Kurds has raised fears for the safety of Syrian Christians, Yazidis and other minority faiths at the hands of Turkish forces.

Pope Francis released a message for World Food Day, promoted October 16, 2019, by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

In his message, addressed to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, cites the theme of the day – “Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World” – as showing the important connection between food and nutrition.

Priestly celibacy in the Latin Rite has come back into open discussion due to the Pan-Amazon synod. Some voices are asking whether the ordination of married men might be the answer to the sacramental shortage in the region, whereas other voices — including Pope Francis and Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the head of the Congregation for Bishops — have expressed skepticism that this is the answer.

"Not even a priest to chat with," sang the Italian singer-songwriter, Adriano Celentano. Fifty years later, this verse turned out to be prophetic for thousands of Italian parishes who are now faced with fewer than ever priests, all with busier schedules. Churchgoers have a hard time reaching them, saying they are ‘distant’. Official figures show that over the last three decades, the number of priests in Italy has been reduced 16 percent, while their average age has increased.

When the convert-cardinal, Blessed John Henry Newman, is canonized by Pope Francis on October 13, it will be the culmination of a remarkable religious odyssey stretching back over two centuries.

In his native Britain, Newman (1801-1890) will be the first confessor, or non-martyr, saint proclaimed for more than 600 years, honored for achievements in life rather than death. It will also be a crowning moment for worldwide devotees of a man widely seen as an architect of the modern church.