World Youth Day is one of the most extraordinary experiences a young person can have Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said.

Speaking at the launch of a specially organised Dublin youth faith festival which will coincide with WYD2013 in Brazil at the end of July, the Archbishop said one of [...]

The desire to be a father is ingrained in all men, even priests, who are called to give life, care, protection to their spiritual children entrusted to them. This was the focus of Pope Francis homily at morning Mass Wednesday, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta. Mass was concelebrated [...]

The Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches is mourning the brutal murder of Fr Franҫois Mourad, a Syrian monk. In a statement issued Tuesday the Prefect Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, expresses “the deepest condolences to the Syro-Catholic Church, with the Patriarch SB Ignace Youssef III Younan, the Custody of the Holy Land [...]

Being Christian is a response to the voice of love, to a call to become children of God. This was the central theme of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass on Tuesday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. The Holy Father also spoke of [...]

Pope Francis says due to “our common roots” with the Jewish people, “a Christian cannot be anti-Semitic!”

The Pope was speaking to a 30 strong delegation from the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) who gathered in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Popes for a private audience Monday. The [...]

The church exists for courageously proclaiming -until martyrdom- Christ, to serve and “take nothing for herself”. In his homily at morning Mass on Monday, Pope Francis pointed to St. John the Baptist as model for Church: he didn’t claim the Truth, the Word as his own; he diminished himself so [...]

On a hot sunny day in Rome, Pope Francis greeted thousands of pilgrims and tourists from the window of the Papal apartments above St Peter’s Square who had come to hear the recitation of the Sunday Angelus.

Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel the Pope recalled some of the most incisive words that [...]

This morning, Pope Francis celebrated mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. About 40 apostolic nuncios, who remained in the Vatican after the Pope’s meeting with them on Friday, were present. Commenting on the Sunday Gospel from Luke, in which Jesus asks the Apostles, “But who do you say that I [...]

Pope Francis greeted a group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Brescia, who had just celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 50th anniversary of the election of Pope Paul VI, who was from the area.

In his address, Pope Francis spoke of his predecessor’s love for Christ, love [...]

The riches and the cares of the world “choke the Word of God,” said Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope pointed out that our life is set on three pillars: election, covenant, and promise, adding that we must trust the Father in living [...]

The first ever symposium on Joseph Ratzinger’s theology to be held in Ireland took place in Maynooth this weekend and brought together former students of the pope emeritus as well as speakers from Ireland, Poland and Germany.

‘The Dynamism of Ratzinger’s Theology’ was held at the Divine Word Missionaries’ house in Co [...]

Never forget you are “Pastors”, who “carry Christ to the world”, detached from the “bourgeoisie spirit and life” of those who pursue only worldly goods and which “risk ridiculing the holy mission” of Papal Representatives.

This was Pope Francis message to the hundreds of Papal Representatives, also known as Apostolic Nuncios, [...]

To pray the Our Father we have to have a heart at peace with our brothers. We don’t pray “my Father,” but “our Father,” because “we are not an only child, none of us are”. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Mass Thursday morning in Casa Santa [...]

Pope Francis on Thursday met with the “Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches” – ROACO – today at the conclusion of the group’s 86th Plenary Assembly.

The ROACO is a committee which unites funding agencies from various countries around the world for the sake of providing assistance in different [...]

In the first decree of a liturgical nature of this pontificate, Pope Francis has decided that St Joseph should be added to the Eucharistic Prayers II, II and IV, as they appear in the third typical edition of the Roman Missal, after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Below please [...]

A press conference was held his morning in the Holy See Press Office to present the initiative “Children’s Train: A Journey through Beauty”. Participating in the presentation were Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Mr. Mauro Moretti, delegate administrator of the Italian Railway [...]

Pope Francis received the participants in the pastoral convention of the Rome diocese on Monday evening, at the opening of the event. In recent years, the annual meeting between the bishop of Rome and the leaders of pastoral, catechetical and outreach initiatives in the city has taken place in the [...]

For a Christian, Jesus is “all”, and this is the source of his or her benevolence.

This was the focus of Pope Francis’s message during Mass on Monday morning at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope also affirmed that the righteousness of Jesus exceeds the righteousness of the scribes, that it [...]

Money, politics and economics must serve, not rule. They must serve people and promote an ethics of truth. This was the thread running through Pope Francis Letter to the British Prime Minister on the eve of the G8 Summit.

The Holy Father’s Letter was in response to one sent by David [...]

“Let us say ‘Yes’ to life and not death.” These were the words of Pope Francis during his homily on Sunday morning for Evangelium Vitae Day, a day celebrating the Gospel of Life.

An estimated 200,000 people were in Saint Peter’s Square for Holy Mass and the Angelus that followed with [...]

Christian life is not a spa therapy “to be at peace until Heaven,” but it calls us to go out into the world to proclaim that Jesus “became the sinner” to reconcile men with the Father. These were Pope Francis’ words during his homily at Mass Saturday at the Casa [...]

At the end of his first visit to the Vatican, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he and Pope Francis shared ideas on economic justice, on the plight of Christians in the Middle East, but also on their deeply personal experiences of God’s calling in their daily lives.

Following their [...]

The Catholic bishops of Ireland have asked the faithful in parishes all over the country to join Pope Francis this weekend in praying in support of the “Gospel of Life”.  Celebrating the encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae, Pope Francis will join in the special event entitled, ‘Believing, May They Have Life’ which [...]

May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin, we often find it easier to insult and denigrate than say or do good.

This was the lesson at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily [...]

This morning the Pope received members of the 13th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, gathered in Rome to help the pontiff choose the theme of the next Ordinary General Assembly.

The 13th assembly of the synod took place last October in the Vatican [...]

Pope Francis on Wednesday addressed the crowds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience.

Please find below Vatican Radio’s full translation of his address.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today I would like to touch briefly on another of the terms with which the Second Vatican Council [...]

The Gospel should be generously and simply proclaimed said Pope Francis during morning Mass Tuesday in the Casa Santa Marta chapel. Poverty and praise of God, he said are the two key signs of an evangelical and missionary Church. Instead a rich Church becomes an old, lifeless Church, it becomes [...]

The Beatitudes are ‘new commandments’, but they are not just a simple do gooders list. They cannot be understood with the mind, only with the heart, so if our hearts are closed to God we will never know true freedom. Christian consolation is the presence of God in our hearts [...]

Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with thousands of pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square this Sunday. In his remarks to the gathered faithful, the Holy Father reflected on the mercy of Our Lord, which is the focus of the Church’s prayerful attention during the month of June, traditionally dedicated to [...]

Pope Francis spoke with tens of thousands of pilgrims who made a 28km, all-night pilgrimage on foot from Macerata to the Marian shrine at Loreto, in Italy. Noting that they pilgrims would be praying the Holy Rosary all along the way, and singing hymns under the guidance of their pastors, [...]