All posts tagged: Catholic Church

The Catholics who broke with Rome. Again.

The Catholics who broke with Rome. Again.

On the side of a mountain in Switzerland, in the shadow of the Alps, a fanciful event attracting a small but ardent group of Catholic traditionalists gathered to celebrate the consecration of four new bishops …  … who were then promptly excommunicated from the Catholic Church along with the bishop who appointed them. The group is called the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. It has spent decades claiming to defend the true Catholic tradition against a church it sees as too modern, too open, too willing to change. But this time, by moving ahead without Rome’s approval, SSPX triggered excommunications and pushed its whole society into schism.  And it’s not the first time this group has run up against the disapproval of the Holy See. Today, Vatican reporter Claire Giangravè joins us to talk about SSPX, Pope Leo XIV, the Latin Mass and what happens when longing for an older church ruptures the church itself. Source link

Vatican excommunicates six ultraconservative bishops over ordination

Vatican excommunicates six ultraconservative bishops over ordination

The Vatican excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X on Thursday, while warning that any lay believers who “formally adhere” to the fraternity would suffer the same fate. Reporting from Rome, FRANCE 24’s Seema Gupta explains that the breakaway group deny key tenets of the Catholic Church, specifically its modernisation, interreligious dialogue and repairing ties with other Christian denominations. Keywords for this article Source link

Pope Leo XIV Exalts First American Saint Cabrini as a Model for Christians for Her Care of Migrants

Pope Leo XIV Exalts First American Saint Cabrini as a Model for Christians for Her Care of Migrants

SANT’ANGELO LODIGIANO, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Saturday exalted the first American saint, Mother Frances Cabrini, as a model for Christians today to care for migrants in need, as he visited her birthplace during a day trip to northern Italy. Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first U.S. pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritizing the plight of migrants. Leo prayed before Cabrini’s tomb in a basilica named for her in her birthplace in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, near Milan, and presided over an evening prayer service. The visit to northern Italy is part of Leo’s summertime grand tour of Italy to visit key cities to get to know his flock. Cabrini, the patron saint of migrants, is well known to many Americans for her work caring for Italian immigrants in the United States at the turn of the last century. Her work went beyond the U.S., however, as she crisscrossed …

JD Vance writes of journey to Catholicism in ‘Communion,’ his first book since ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

JD Vance writes of journey to Catholicism in ‘Communion,’ his first book since ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism whose faith has been central to his adult life, writes about his religious journey in a new book that could ultimately serve as a sort of origin story for a future presidential campaign. “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” comes out Tuesday from Harper, and The Associated Press obtained a copy ahead of its release. The HarperCollins imprint also put out “Hillbilly Elegy,” the best-selling memoir from 2016 that helped make Vance a national figure. Vance has been working on and off on his new book since then, a tumultuous decade that included a Hollywood movie about his youth, a short stint as a U.S. senator from Ohio and now vice president to Donald Trump. There’s not a lot about Trump or other insider stories from Vance’s political years, although he does express regret for criticizing the Democratic Party’s “childless cat ladies,” a comment that came back to haunt him while Trump’s running mate. Instead, “Communion” serves as a sort of manifesto for the role of …

Pope casts flowers in sea in tribute to drowned migrants during Canary Islands visit

Pope casts flowers in sea in tribute to drowned migrants during Canary Islands visit

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday condemned “indifference” towards migrants during a visit to Spain’s Canary Islands that symbolised the perils of deadly irregular routes to Europe. The pontiff cast a bouquet of flowers into the sea in tribute to the thousands who have died trying to reach the Atlantic archipelago, on day six of a trip to Spain that has repeatedly highlighted the plight of migrants. Leo visited the port of Arguineguin on Gran Canaria island, where he met migrants and those who help them before blessing a cross made from the wood of migrant boats. “Even today, monsters lurk in these seas: mafias that profit from despair, traffickers who enslave women and children, and those whose indifference allows the poor to be swallowed up by exploitation or forgetfulness,” Leo told a ceremony at the port. Migrants face a dangerous Atlantic crossing to reach the Canary Islands. © AFP (Stringer) Nearly 1,200 people died or went missing on the route from Africa to the Canary Islands last year, according to the International Organization for Migration, …

Pope Leo Blesses the Sagrada Familia

Pope Leo Blesses the Sagrada Familia

new video loaded: Pope Leo Blesses the Sagrada Familia 1:02 Pope Leo XIV inaugurated the Sagrada Familia basilica’s newly completed central tower on Wednesday. By Jackeline Luna June 10, 2026 0 Suspect Arrested in Belfast Knife Attack 1:53 Arab Israeli Opens Fire, Killing 1 and Injuring at Least 5 1:11 Nearly 800 Arrested in France After Champions League Final, French Officials Said 1:03 Four Killed in Belgium After Train Collides With School Van 0:51 Parts of Britain Hit With First Heat Wave of the Year 1:00 Europeans Remain Wary as Trump Promises to Deploy Troops to Poland 1:34 Video › Today’s Videos U.S. Politics Immigration NY Region Science Business Culture Books Wellness World Africa Americas Asia South Asia Donald Trump Middle East Crisis Russia-Ukraine Crisis Visual Investigations Opinion Video Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Source link

A Pentagon List Overhaul Puts Mormon Church’s Christian Identity Back in the Spotlight

A Pentagon List Overhaul Puts Mormon Church’s Christian Identity Back in the Spotlight

The Pentagon’s revision to its list of Christian religions this week has reignited a nearly 200-year-old debate: Is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a Christian denomination? Most Latter-day Saints do see themselves as Christians. But there are many prominent Christian clergy and scholars who disagree, citing core differences in how they view God and the Trinity and revere a scripture that is not part of the two-testament Christian Bible. Utah U.S. Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis, both Republicans and Latter-day Saints, challenged the Pentagon’s exclusion of their faith from its list of Christian religions. It was part of the Department of Defense’s recent effort to significantly pare down a list of more than 200 religious affiliations that troops could choose from, deleting categories such as atheists, Unitarian Universalists, pagans and Wiccans. “Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country,” Curtis posted on X in defense of his faith. “They are also unequivocally Christian — just look at who is in the name of the Church.” He also …

Pope Leo Will Tap Into the Sagrada Familia’s Allure While Honoring Catalonia’s Holy Mountain

Pope Leo Will Tap Into the Sagrada Familia’s Allure While Honoring Catalonia’s Holy Mountain

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will bridge 1,000 years of church history Wednesday, visiting a medieval monastery on a mountaintop that local Catholics consider sacred and then celebrating Mass at Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia Basilica. Montserrat, a healthy drive from the city followed by a steep ascent, is dear to many of the Catalan people in northeastern Spain. Annually, 2 million people travel to the complex that includes an 11th-century Benedictine abbey as well as a 16th-century basilica. Its Black Madonna statue, which studies show originally was white but turned dark by centuries of smoke and incense before being painted black, is widely revered. But for many Catholics watching from afar — and especially non-Catholics — the highlight of the Chicago-born pope’s seven-day trip to Spain will be his evening Mass at the Sagrada Familia — the Basilica of the Holy Family — commemorating the centennial of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí. Leo will speak almost exclusively Spanish on the trip, with some comments in Catalan. The visit illustrates his balancing …

Pope urges Spanish Church to adopt ‘culture of care’, reparations for sex abuse survivors

Pope urges Spanish Church to adopt ‘culture of care’, reparations for sex abuse survivors

Pope Leo XIV told Spain’s Catholic hierarchy on Monday to provide reparations to survivors of clergy sexual abuse and deal with the crisis transparently, ahead of an expected meeting with survivors during his weeklong visit to the country. Leo told Spanish bishops the entire church community should have an “ever more determined commitment to prevention and a culture of care”. The Spanish hierarchy had largely dismissed the scale of abuse in their church for decades until a newspaper began documenting a legacy of abuse and cover-up. “Faced with this scourge, the ecclesial community is called to respond with listening, truth, justice reparation,” Leo said. “Every wounded person must be able to find sincere listening, welcome, protection and real paths to healing.” Amid public outrage over the abuse crisis, Spain launched a reparations system earlier this year for clerical abuse cases too old to be prosecuted that requires the participation of the Catholic Church and the Spanish government. Other countries and churches have set up reparations mechanisms to compensate survivors and provide therapy, but the Spanish …

More than 1.2 million people attend Pope Leo’s mass in Madrid

More than 1.2 million people attend Pope Leo’s mass in Madrid

 King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia joined the throngs of devotees waving Spanish and Vatican flags in Cibeles Square. The mass comes on day two of Pope Leo’s seven-day visit to Spain, a traditionally Catholic bastion where religious observance has been declining sharply in recent years as it is in much of Western Europe. A huge logistical and security operation was in place for the event, after which the pope led a traditional procession along a route lined with white and yellow carnations – the Vatican flag colours. Organisers said there were more than 1.2 million people attending in the square and the surrounding area. The mass comes on day two of Pope Leo’s seven-day visit to Spain. © Pierre-Philippe Marcou, AFP Nico Aldeanueva, 28, who was visiting from Philadelphia in the United States, said the pope was “a very unifying force in a moment where we have division across so many different fronts”. “We have, it seems like, never-ending conflict, and for the time being here you get to hit pause and get to …