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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The nearly 400-year-old sculpted canopy towering over the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica will be surrounded by scaffolding for most of 2024 as it is washed, repaired and restored.Standing nearly 100 feet tall, the baldachin, designed by Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini, has stood over the tomb of St. Peter since 1634. And for all that time it has gathered dust, cracks and rust despite regular cleanings.As a result, "we can't not intervene" to restore the structure, said Alberto Capitanucci, the head engineer of the Fabbrica di San Pietro -- the office responsible for upkeep of the basilica.Speaking at a news conference announcing the Vatican's restoration plans Jan. 11, Capitanucci said the procedure will follow that of the baldachin's last recorded restoration in 1758, only using an independent scaffolding structure that was not previously possible to build.The restoration process will begin after Feb. 12 and the scaffolding, which will allow for direct...
WASHINGTON - In observance of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has issued a statement: On Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we pause and reflect on Rev. King's indelible legacy, and his rallying cry in the pursuit of justice and peace. As Rev. King taught us, we must confront the evils of racism and prejudice with the love of Christ: 'Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God . . . the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. . .. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all men.'  Each of us can and must work for justice and peace, remembering Rev. King's call to action: 'Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you d...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A major leap forward in Christian unity began with an embrace, as Pope Francis recalled.St. Paul VI and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople met, and embraced, in Jerusalem in January 1964 and the following year they lifted the mutual excommunications their churches had issued in 1054. St. Paul VI greets Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople during the pontiff's 1964 trip to the Holy Land. (CNS file photo)Pope Francis marked the anniversary during his Angelus address Jan. 6, telling a crowd in St. Peter's Square that the two leaders had broken down "a wall of incommunicability that had kept Catholics and Orthodox apart for centuries. Let us learn from the embrace of those two great men of the church on the path to Christian unity: praying together, walking together, working together."The praying, walking and working will be highlighted Jan. 18-25 as Christians around the world celebrate the Week of Prayer for Chri...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One of the most dangerous vices is gluttony, turning people who are meant to be custodians of creation into mere consumers and even exploiters and predators, Pope Francis said."The sin of those who succumb before a piece of cake, all things considered, does not cause great damage, but the voracity with which we have been plundering the goods of the planet for some centuries now is compromising the future of all," he said."We have grabbed everything, in order to become the masters of all things, while everything had been consigned to our custody, not to our exploitation," the pope said Jan. 10 at his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall.Continuing a new series of audience talks about vices and virtues, the pope reflected on the vice of gluttony, which the ancient church fathers referred to as a kind of "folly of the belly."Jesus taught that what is wrong is not food in and of itself, but one's relationship with it, Pope Francis said. Jesus is "th...
"Pope Francis strongly condemned the practice of surrogacy calling it 'a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child.' He emphasized that a child is a gift and as such can 'never (be) the basis of a commercial contract.' Surrogacy represents the commodification and instrumentalization of a woman's body, treating her as a 'carrier' rather than a human person. And just as troubling is the fact that the child is reduced to terms of buying and selling as an object of human trafficking."The commercialization of women and children in surrogacy is underlined by the belief that there is a right to have a child. The child becomes an object for the fulfillment of one's desires instead of a person to be cherished. In this way, the genuine right of the child to be conceived through the love of his or her parents is overlooked in favor of 'the right to have a child by any means necessary.' We must avoid this way of thinking and answer the call to respect human life, beginning with ...
WASHINGTON - In response to the Holy Father's remarks today to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See where he made specific mention of surrogacy, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offered the following statement from its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs."As Pope Francis stated, with surrogacy, an unborn child is turned into 'an object of trafficking' because it exploits the birth mother's material needs and makes the child the product of a commercial contract. This is why the Catholic Church teaches that the practice of surrogacy is not morally permissible. Instead, we should pray for, and work towards, a world that upholds the profound dignity of every person, at every stage and in every circumstance of life."###
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on the international community to ban surrogate pregnancy, calling it "deplorable" and a "grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother's material needs."The path to peace requires respecting every human life, "starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother's womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking," the pope told diplomats accredited to the Holy See during his annual New Year's address Jan. 8.The pope told the ambassadors gathered in a formal, frescoed hall of the Apostolic Palace that greater efforts are needed to prevent conflict and war through dialogue, disarmament and respect for human rights."We must not forget that grave violations of international humanitarian law are war crimes, and that it is not sufficient to point them out, but also necessary to prevent them," he said.  Pope Francis speaks during his annual meeting with...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the Sistine Chapel, where popes are elected, Pope Francis baptized 16 infants, who, he said, "give us the witness of how to receive the faith: with innocence and with an open heart."Celebrating the feast of the Baptism of the Lord Jan. 7, the pope baptized seven girls and nine boys, including one set of twins, during a morning Mass with fewer than 300 people in the chapel. Afterward, he led the recitation of the Angelus prayer with about 12,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square.While Pope Francis led the baptismal prayers and poured the water over the heads of the infants -- many of whom were squirming and a few of whom cried loudly -- he was assisted in anointing the babies by Cardinals Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the commission governing Vatican City State.Thanking the parents for bringing their children to be baptized, Pope Francis assured them -- as he usually does during baptisms -- that they should ...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Instead of splitting into ideological groups, members of the Catholic Church need to put God front and center, not their own personal ideas and plans, Pope Francis said."We need to let go of ecclesiastical ideologies in order to find the meaning of the Holy Mother Church" and to support its true vocation, he said."Let us set out anew from God; let us seek from him the courage not to lose heart in the face of difficulties, the strength to surmount all obstacles, the joy to live in harmonious communion," the pope said Jan. 6, celebrating Mass on the feast of the Epiphany."We need to let ourselves walk in friendship with the Lord, we need his love to sustain us, and the light of his word to guide us, like a star in the night," he said in his homily.  Pope Francis gives the homily during Mass on the feast of the Epiphany in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 6, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)"We need to set out on this journey, so that our faith will not be red...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Help "de-weaponize" the way language is used in the media by being respectful to others and fostering greater understanding and peace between people, Pope Francis told a group of Catholics journalists from Germany."How many conflicts today, instead of being extinguished by dialogue, are fueled by fake news or inflammatory statements spread through the media!" he said in a text handed to participants."Therefore it is even more important that you, steadfast in your Christian roots and the faith you live out daily, with hearts 'demilitarized' by the Gospel, support the disarmament of language," the pope wrote.  Pope Francis poses for a group photograph with a delegation representing the Society of Catholic Journalists in Germany during a private audience at the Vatican Jan. 4, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)The pope gave his text to a delegation representing the Society of Catholic Journalists in Germany during a private audience at the Vatican Jan. 4. While he d...
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