A pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place for the purpose of worship and/or to ask for heavenly aid. The journey involves leaving behind the comforts of home and frequently includes sacrifice, self-denial, hunger, long walks, pain, exhaustion, extreme weather, and...

On January 10, 2019, the Vatican announced the creation of its first ever sports association: Athletica Vaticana. It is the next step in the Vatican’s longstanding promotion of sports as an instrument of dialogue, peace and solidarity. The idea for a Vatican track...

The delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met with Pope Francis on September 13, 2018, and afterwards released a statement that they would adopt 4 measures as a first step to address the crisis of sexual abuse in the Church. Then the full body of...

On December 21, 2018 Pope Francis again held a meeting with the Vatican employees and their families to exchange Christmas greetings. This gathering follows right after the long-held traditional meeting the pope holds with the officials of the Vatican’s administrative...

On December 17, 2018, Pope Francis turned 82 years old. The day before, he began celebrating with a party and a surprise cake along with the children under the care of a Vatican free health clinic. There was singing and music and he joked with the children saying he...

At the Vatican on the morning of Friday December 7, 2018, preparations for the celebration of the birth of Christ started off with an exhibition of over 100 different nativity scenes. This was the 43rd edition of the exhibit and it featured a wide variety of artistic...

This year the traditional nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square is not so traditional. For the first time it was made of sand, 720 tons. In November, heavy trucks brought the sand from the Italian seaside city of Jesolo near Venice, where every year since 1998 that...

The First Sunday of Advent occurs four Sundays before Christmas and is also the beginning of the new liturgical year. The English word Advent comes from the Latin word ad (“to” and venire (“to come”) and so it means “to come to” or “arrival.” Advent actually...

Traditionally sea gulls have lived around water, with some living inland but near rivers or reservoirs. However increasingly they are living in towns and cities and many have given up living by water entirely. Experts say that one reason is that the birds have found...

The Synod of Bishops is a permanent institution of the Catholic Church first established by Pope Paul VI in 1965 to continue the spirit of collegiality and communion after the close of the Second Vatican Council. It is an assembly of bishops chosen from different...

Horses originated in North America as indicated by the fossil records, but they moved to Eurasia when the climate cooled in the Pleistocene Epoch. They returned thousands of years later to the Americas, brought by the conquistadors. Since the end of the last ice age,...

The 2013 resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was in the news again with the leaking to the press of 2 private lefters which appeared in the German newspaper Bild on Sept. 20, 2018. The both letters written by retired pope emeritus Benedict in Nov., 2017 were to Cardinal...