St. Maria Goretti Parish

The Preacher of the Papal Household, Fr. Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, delivers the fifth in his series of reflections for the 2025 Spiritual Exercises of the Roman Curia. You can read a summary of the reflection, entitled ‘Dying or Living?’ below.

Read all

 

The Archbishop of Luxembourg and former president of COMECE, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, reflects on what he describes as the "decline in moral awareness that seems to pervade the leaders of much of the world" in light of the erosion of the "taboo on war" and the rampant push for an arms race.

Read all

 

Caritas Internationalis launches the Weavers of Hope award to help organizations empower women as sources of hope in their families, communities, and societies.

Read all

 

Cuba grants early release to 553 prisoners following a deal mediated by the Holy See and completing an agreement struck in the final days of former U.S. President Joe Biden’s days in office.

Read all

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As Pope Francis prepared to spend the 12th anniversary of his election at Rome's Gemelli hospital, people at the Vatican and around the world were responding to his most frequent personal request.

"From the beginning of his pontificate, we have heard Pope Francis ask us to not forget to pray for him, and that is what we are doing," said Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, as he led thousands of people praying the rosary for the pope March 10 in St. Peter's Square.

"It is not only Christians who are doing so, but the faithful of other religions and even many nonbelievers also are joining their hearts around Pope Francis," the cardinal said.

Pope Francis has made requesting prayers a hallmark of his papacy and a standard way to end a letter or speech. 

People join in the recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 28, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

When the 76-year-old Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI March 13, 2013, and came out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, his words stunned the crowd:

"Before the bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me -- the prayer of the people asking a blessing for their bishop. Let us make, in silence, this prayer: your prayer over me," he said, and bowed to receive the blessing.

And again, before he said good night, he told the crowd, "Pray for me."

Probably not a day has gone by since then that he hasn't made the request out loud or in writing.

Four months after his election, on his flight back from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a journalist asked him why he always asked for people's prayers. "It isn't normal, we are not used to hearing a pope ask so often that people pray for him," the reporter said.

"I have always asked this," the pope responded. "When I was a priest, I asked, but less frequently. I began to ask more often when I was working as a bishop, because I sense that if the Lord does not help in this work of assisting the people of God to go forward, it can't be done."

"I am truly conscious of my many limitations, of many problems, of also being a sinner -- as you know! -- and I have to ask for this," he said. "It is a habit, but a habit that comes from my heart."

Pope Francis also often thanks people for their prayers. 

Members of the "Political Fraternity" project of the Chemin Neuf lay movement lay hands on and pray for Pope Francis at the end of an audience May 16, 2022, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

"I would like to thank you for the prayers, which rise up to the Lord from the hearts of so many faithful from many parts of the world," the pope wrote in his text for the Angelus prayer March 2. "I feel all your affection and closeness, and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am 'carried' and supported by all God's people. Thank you all!"

And while no photos of the pope have been released since he entered the hospital, his labored voice was broadcast in St. Peter's Square March 6 in an audio message thanking the gathered faithful for their prayers.

Hospitalized since Feb. 14 with bronchitis and difficulty breathing, Pope Francis was later diagnosed with double pneumonia. His doctors told reporters he has chronic lung conditions: bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, caused by years of respiratory problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis. 

In his autobiography, Pope Francis wrote about the surgery he underwent at the age of 20 to remove the upper lobe of his right lung after suffering a severe respiratory infection.

"It was extremely painful. Extremely," he said.

When writing or talking about the pope's lung surgery, people often mistakenly assume doctors had removed the entire right lung. It even was an issue at the 2013 conclave that elected him. 

Priests pray over Pope Francis during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 5, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

During the lunch break between the third and fourth ballots of the conclave, he wrote, a group of European cardinals invited him to sit with them. They began asking so many questions on so many topics "that I found myself thinking: Hah, it seems like an exam."

At the end of the meal, he said, a Spanish-speaking cardinal asked him, "Do you have a lung missing?"

After explaining that only the upper lobe had been cut away in 1957, Pope Francis recalled that "the cardinal turned red, uttered a swear word and clenched his teeth: 'These last-minute maneuvers!' he exclaimed."

"It was then that I began to understand" he was being seriously considered as a candidate to succeed Pope Benedict. It happened that evening with the conclave's fifth ballot.

The Catholic Church in Pope Francis' native Argentina planned to celebrate the pope's 12th anniversary March 13 with special Masses in every diocese.

Archbishop Marcelo Colombo of Mendoza, president of the Argentine bishops' conference, said the Masses, in addition to offering prayers for the pope's continued recovery, would be a "public witness of our gratitude for his generous dedication, which has borne abundant fruits of pastoral love over the years."
 

12 years of Pope Francis

When he came out on to the balcony for the first time after his election, Pope Francis asked people to pray for him. He's been making that same request for 12 years.

Greenland heads to the polls on Tuesday, against an unprecedented backdrop of international attention, largely due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s reiterated idea to acquire the Danish autonomous territory, whose rich mineral resources and strategic location make it an area of increasing global interest.

Read all

 

The Caritas office in Odesa launches a programme offering psychosocial and physical rehabilitation sessions for children affected by war. These sessions are led by Olena Velychenco and specially trained therapy dogs.

Read all

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis is no longer considered in imminent danger from his lung infection, but he will remain in Rome's Gemelli hospital for several more days to continue receiving medical treatment, the Vatican said. 

The improvements in the 88-year-old pope's condition recorded in the previous days "have been further consolidated" and were confirmed by the results of blood tests and his positive response to drug therapy, the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin March 10. 

Doctors had previously noted "a good response to therapy" March 8, adding that his gas exchanges -- the intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide -- had improved and that blood tests showed his condition to be stable.

While his doctors' prognosis for the pope was "guarded" for more than three weeks after he was hospitalized Feb. 14, they lifted that designation March 10, indicating he was no longer in imminent danger from the infection that hospitalized him. He was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia Feb. 18.

A man prays for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 10, 2025. Because senior Vatican officials are on their Lenten retreat in the Vatican audience hall, the rosary was recited three hours earlier than usual and people in the square followed the prayer on video screens. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

However, due to the severity of the infection and the complexity of his condition, doctors determined that "it will be necessary to continue, for additional days, medical drug therapy in a hospital setting," the bulletin said.

The pope followed by video parts of the Roman Curia's Lenten retreat both March 9 and 10, the bulletin said, and he received the Eucharist before praying in the chapel of his hospital suite. 

"In the afternoon he again joined the Curia's spiritual exercises, following by video connection," it said. "During the day he alternated between prayer and rest."

No new images of the pope have been seen in more than three weeks, but the Vatican shared an audio message from the pope March 6 in which, with labored breath, he thanked the faithful for their prayers for his health. 

The Vatican press office confirmed that while the pope watched the main talks of the Curia retreat, participants meeting in the Vatican audience hall could not see images of the pope.

The Curia's retreat March 9-14 focused on the theme "The Hope of Eternal Life," which was chosen weeks prior to the pope's hospitalization, the Vatican press office said.

Despite his hospitalization, Pope Francis was preparing to mark two significant milestones: 67 years since entering the Society of Jesus March 11 and 12 years since his election as pope March 13.

Heavy rains and a time change led to a smaller gathering of faithful in St. Peter's Square on March 10 to pray for the pope's recovery. The rosary, typically prayed in the late evening, was moved to 6 p.m. Rome time to coincide with the Curia's spiritual exercises.

Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family, and Life, led the rosary, following a meditation by Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household.

Reflecting on the theme of eternal life, Father Pasolini said, "We realize that, yes, death happens to us, but something much more important happens to us: life, and this is the gift of eternal life."

"This is what we must convert our attention and our hearts to," he continued. "Not to the fact that we are dead and will die, but to the fact that we are alive and will live because of God's promise."

WASHINGTON – Each year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) comforts and assists people worldwide who suffer from war, natural disasters, violent persecution or extreme poverty. That work is possible because of contributions to The Catholic Relief Services Collection. This year, many dioceses will take up this collection in their parishes at Masses on March 29-30.

The collection benefits six Church-related entities that all offer aid to the vulnerable in carrying out the Christ’s mandate in Matthew’s Gospel to care for the “least of these.” 

• Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provides disaster relief and economic development initiatives among the developing world’s poorest people.
• Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the USCCB helps the Church address the pastoral needs of U.S. Catholics across many cultural boundaries.
• Secretariat of Justice and Peace at the USCCB engages in advocacy and outreach on behalf of the poor and works for peace.
• Migration & Refugee Services at the USCCB welcomes and assists newcomers to the U.S., especially victims of war and persecution.
• Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) provides legal aid to refugees and migrants, including immigrant Catholic clergy and religious sisters and brothers who need help navigating United States immigration law.
• The Holy Father’s Relief Fund enables the Pope to quickly assist victims of disaster.

“This year, The Catholic Relief Services Collection has a very urgent significance,” said Bishop Daniel Mueggenborg, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections. “Recently, the U.S. government abruptly suspended funding for its refugee resettlement program and then terminated cooperative agreements for such work, impacting thousands of refugees that the government has placed in the charge of the USCCB for resettlement assistance. And with similarly abrupt stop-work orders on foreign humanitarian relief work, aid organizations such as Catholic Relief Services are unable to sustain their work overseas, bringing food, life-saving medicine, and daily necessities to people in need.”

While federal funding has been essential for organizations such as the USCCB and CRS to succeed in the work to aid those in need, each year the Conference spends more to support refugees than it receives from federal grants. Because of the funding suspension, the USCCB and its local partner organizations have begun laying off dozens of employees and this has irreparably damaged the USCCB’s partnerships with local groups and its ability to provide refugee assistance in the future. Donations to this year’s collection will be vital to the Catholic initiatives to reveal Christ’s love to those in need.

In the past, The Catholic Relief Services Collection has brought religious sisters and priests to the United States, provided pastoral training for Catholic leaders who minister to Asian and Pacific Island communities in the United States, enabled families to rise above poverty, and funded steps toward ending a war. In 2023, the bishops distributed more than $13 million among the six organizations affiliated with the collection. For information on the projects that were funded in 2023, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/catholic-relief.

#iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for this collection.

###

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The devil, who lies and sows divisions, tests everyone, even Jesus, Pope Francis said in a written homily.

Satan tries to convince people that the hungry cannot be fed, that "angels will not come to our aid when we are falling, and that at best, the world is in the hands of evil powers that crush nations by their arrogant schemes and the brutality of war," the homily said.

But the Lord has opened a new path of liberation and redemption, the pope wrote, so when the faithful are "tested," it does not have to end in failure. "By following the Lord in faith, from drifters we become pilgrims." 

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presides over Mass concluding the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 9, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

The pope's prepared homily was read by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, at a Mass concluding the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering March 9 in St. Peter's Square.

It was the third Jubilee Mass Pope Francis missed attending after being hospitalized Feb. 14 for difficulty breathing and then diagnosed with double pneumonia and other respiratory infections. However, his spiritual presence at the Mass was represented by a large cloth banner with his papal coat of arms hanging from the basilica's central balcony.

Thousands of volunteers, including religious men and women whose charism includes offering charity, filled the square, which was brightened by the neon and fluorescent jackets and gear worn by different local, national and international associations. Their bright yellow, blue, orange and red apparel created a vibrant rainbow with the purple vestments of prelates concelebrating the Mass. 

A statue of St. Peter can be seen as thousands of volunteers from around the world gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 9, 2025, to celebrate Mass marking the conclusion of the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

The pope greeted the volunteers in his prepared homily, read by the cardinal. He thanked them for following the example of Jesus by serving "your neighbors unstintingly."

Their "generosity and commitment" in helping those in need, he wrote, "offer hope to our entire society. In the deserts of poverty and loneliness, all those small gestures are helping to make a new humanity blossom in the garden that is God's dream, always and everywhere, for all of us."

The bulk of the pope's homily was a reflection on the Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent and the devil's temptation of Jesus in the desert for 40 days.

"Let us reflect on the fact that we too are tempted, yet we are not alone. Jesus is with us, to guide us through the desert" and give "us the strength to resist its attacks and to persevere on our journey," the pope wrote.

"The Lord is close to us and cares for us, especially in times of trial and uncertainty, when the tempter makes his voice heard," he wrote. The devil, who is the father of lies, separates and divides; "whereas Jesus is the one who unites God and man, the mediator." 

Thousands of volunteers from around the world gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 9, 2025, to celebrate Mass and pray the Angelus marking the conclusion of the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

"The devil whispers into our ear that God is not really our Father, that he has in fact abandoned us," he wrote. "Yet just when the devil would have us believe that the Lord is far from us, and would tempt us to despair, God draws all the closer to us, giving his life for the redemption of the world."

"In the face of temptation, we sometimes fall; we are all sinners," Pope Francis wrote. "Our defeat, however, is not definitive, because following our every fall, God lifts us up by his infinite love and forgiveness. Our testing does not end in failure, because, in Christ, we are redeemed from evil."

"As we journey through the desert with him," the pope wrote, "Jesus himself opens up before us this new path of liberation and redemption."

Volunteers celebrate Jubilee in St. Peter's Square

Missing his third Jubilee Mass due to his hospitalization for treatment of double pneumonia, Pope Francis was represented at the Jubilee of the World of Volunteering March 9, 2025, by Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting...