St. Anthony is the best known of the Desert Fathers. The Desert Fathers were hermits, ascetics, monks, and nuns who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD. Saint Anthony was born in the year 251, in Qimn El-Arouse (Cooma) near Herakleopolis Magna in Lower Egypt, to wealthy landowner parents. [...]
The covers of the first issues of 30 Giorni (the Italian original of 30 Days), of 30 Days, of Catholic World Report, and of Inside the Vatican. A few weeks ago, I received news in an email from Father Joseph Fessio that Catholic World Report would become a purely Internet publication after its [...]
Thursday 10 ISRAELI RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT THE VATICAN Dialogue is essential for religious leaders in the Holy Land, “a place full of memories sacred to our traditions,” but a place that each day faces challenges to living together in harmony, Benedict XVI told religious leaders from Israel. The “movement toward reconciliation requires courage and vision, as [...]
POPE BENEDICT: NO SEATBELT The Vatican said BENEDICT XVI greeted with a smile the news that a German citizen had filed a complaint against him for not wearing a seat belt in his popemobile. The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said that the complaint was not being taken seriously at the Vatican. Father Lombardi said [...]
Fifteenth-century Khachkar of Sotk, Erevan, Armenia, Echmiadzin’s Holy See Museum In 301 A.D., more than a decade before the Emperor Constantine allowed Christianity to be legal in the Roman Empire, landlocked Armenia, situated in the Caucasus, at the foot of Mount Ararat, renowned as the landing-place of Noah’s Ark, became the first Christian state [...]
Mercedes Arzu Wilson Mercedes Arzu Wilson is a “fighter for life,” one of the most prominent in the world. She has been part of Vatican delegations at United Nations’ conferences, has written books, has given lectures around the world, has prepared packages of materials and carried them to the post office, and has been [...]
Caravaggio’s The Madonna of Loreto. Unfortunately, the Italian Ministry of Culture did not grant permission to publish the photo of a related work, Carracci’s Madonna of Loreto Although he was born on September 29, 1571, near Milan, Caravaggio’s most productive years, from 1600 to 1606, were spent in Rome, where most of his paintings [...]
Here is the text of the address Benedict XVI gave to the Roman Curia, on December 22, 2011, in the Sala Clementina in the Apostolic Palace. The Pope reflected on the year just past, and on the crisis that faces the faith in our world. And offers some counsels... By POPE BENEDICT XVI Dear Cardinals, Brother [...]
Pope Benedict XVI seated in the Sala Clementina in the Apostolic Palace on December 22 to deliver his annual Christmas message to the Roman Curia. The Pope said the "faith fatigue" seen in various areas of Church life today contrasts sharply with the faith and joy he witnessed during World Youth Day in Madrid [...]
Archbishop Pietro Sambi 1938–2012 Pietro Sambi was a diplomat, a man of dialogue, a man of peace, and we would like to honor him among the “Top Ten” of 2011, and mourn his passing. He died on July 27 at the age of 73. All who knew him loved him. When the archbishop died [...]
