Two newly ordained priests – one a former punk rock guitarist and the other a former policeman – spoke at their ordination of serving and accompanying others. The pair were ordained at the Cathedral of Prato, Italy earlier this month. Service and accompaniment The newly ordained Father Giulio Vanucci said while he had enjoyed being Read more
The incoming class of seminarians who will be ordained in 2024 is young and involved in their community, an annual survey released April 15 found. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned the Center for Applied Research (CARA) at Georgetown University for an annual survey. From January to March of this year, CARA surveyed almost Read more
It is proverbial wisdom that ‘One picture is worth a thousand words.’ That is certainly true of the picture above – it is worth many thousands of words as we approach the synod in October. Dare I say it, it is worth a thousand of the numbered statements in Denzinger! Please study the picture closely. Read more
The upcoming plenary meeting of the USCCB comes as the Catholic Church is on its way to being, in some ways, a “post-episcopal” Church—no longer a bishops’ Church. That will likely have a dramatic impact on how Catholicism may influence and interact with American social and political values. The situation arises from the precipitous drop Read more
Plans have been made for 16 men from Vietnam to come to this country to study and prepare to be diocesan priests in New Zealand dioceses. When they arrive in New Zealand, it is planned that they will work to complete level 6.5 IELTS academic (English language), while living in their “home” dioceses in this Read more
The most famous singing priest of Ireland discerned his call after St. John Paul II’s visit to the country in 1979. He hopes that Pope Francis’s trip in August will also spark new vocations. “I suppose people are a bit down over the Church. Certainly, vocations are down,” says Father Ray Kelly, the 65 year-old Read more
Pope Francis is lamenting the haemorrhaging of nuns and priests in Europe. God only knows how many seminaries, monasteries, convents and churches will close because fewer people are being called to lives of religious service, he says. Read more
Pope Francis this weekend will ordain eleven new priests for the Diocese of Rome. At a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter, otherwise known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the pope will also ordain five other men for two different religious orders. But only five of Rome’s 11 new priests Read more
The Church should do more for single people, says French journalist Claire Lesegretain. “This is the Church’s blind spot. It’s there, very present, but nobody talks about it. We don’t see them,” she says. Lesegretain, who is single, believes the relationship between the Church and single people should be looked at from a vocational perspective. Read more
Last weekend a group of young men and women spent Saturday working with and talking with people in the Makoi Hart community in Suva. These young men and women are temporarily professed religious living and working in Fiji. Watch the video They come from a number of different congregations: Marist Sisters, Missionaries of the Sacred Read more