sacrament

Pope at Mass in Bulgaria: Communion in the Eucharist

Pope Francis during Mass in Rakovsky (Vatican Media) Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass with First Communion, in Rakovsky, Bulgaria, and tells the young boys and girls how the Eucharist expresses the communion that makes us all brothers and sisters. The homily was brief and to the point. But, most of all, it was addressed [...]

Pope at Mass warns against idolatry of money in the Church

At Mass, Friday morning, Pope Francis invited Christians to respect churches as the house of God and not turn them into marketplaces of money and worldliness. Pope Francis on Friday urged that churches be given due respect as the “house of God” and not be transformed into markets or social lounges dominated by “worldliness”. Celebrating his [...]

‘We are called to be gifts for others’

Pope Francis dedicated his catechesis on Wednesday to the Sacrament of Confirmation, a gift – he said – that in turn enables us to become a gift for others. Pope Francis urged Christians who receive the many gifts of the Holy Spirit to give back to others, and not to keep those gifts only for themselves “as [...]

‘Let yourselves be shaped by the Spirit’

Pope Francis dedicated his catechesis on Wednesday to the Sacrament of Confirmation and thanked a group of athletes from the Korean peninsula for their message of peace. Pope Francis has reminded believers that Confirmation is an “undeserved gift” to be welcomed with gratitude, safeguarded with care and lived with docility allowing oneself to be shaped and moulded by the [...]

Through the Eucharist we receive God

Pope Francis has reminded the faithful that the Eucharist is a wonderful event during which Jesus Christ, our life, becomes present. Speaking to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis began a new series of reflections focusing on the Eucharist and highlighting the importance of how we attend and of how [...]

Pope Francis catechesis dedicated to the Sacrament of Confirmation

Wednesday Audience - St. Peter Square - February 5, 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Today I will speak to you about the Eucharist. The Eucharist is at the heart of “Christian initiation”, together with Baptism and Confirmation, and it constitutes the source of the Church's life itself. From this Sacrament of love, in fact, [...]

Vatican Official Reaffirms Teaching on Divorced, Remarried Catholics

Pope Francis greets newlyweds (Galazka photo). Amid increasing speculation that the Catholic Church might make it easier for divorced and remarried members to receive Communion, the Vatican’s highest doctrinal official on October 22 reaffirmed Church teaching barring such persons from the sacrament without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriage. But Archbishop Gerhard Müller, [...]