general audience, 21 May 2025 Pope Leo XIV has begun his weekly General Audiences, continuing Pope Francis’ catechetical reflections for the Jubilee Year. This week’s theme was Jesus Christ, Our Hope. Reflecting on the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1–17), Pope Leo XIV offered a new perspective on how Jesus communicates the Gospel. He emphasized […]
In the early days of a new papacy, some of the most telling indicators of a Pope’s mission and vision come not through speeches or documents but in the quieter symbolism of his chosen motto and coat of arms. These heraldic and textual signs offer a profound synthesis of the Pope’s personal spiritual journey and […]
Dear friends, what emotion to hear the resounding phrase ‘Habemus Papam’! Ancient words that are always new, words that always mark a new beginning. We have great joy because the Lord cares for His Church, and the Holy Spirit is always at work, acting with surprising wisdom and simplicity. Pope Leo XIV’s name indicates a […]
From 9.00pm on the 21 April 2025 the Seat of Peter became known officially as Apostolica Sedes Vacans, awaiting the election of the new Holy Father. The preparations are now underway to elect the new Pope in the historic setting of the Sistine Chapel. As the Conclave approaches, the Sistine Chapel – “la Cappella Magna” […]
During the period of the Sede Vacante, and in preparation for the beginning of the Conclave to elect the new Holy Father, the 267th Successor of St Peter, the faithful are invited to pray unceasingly for the Cardinals who will take part in the Conclave. We pray that they will be enlightened by the Holy […]
27 April marks the Sunday of Divine Mercy, Feast instituted by John Paul II in 1992. John Paul II deeply loved the Divine Mercy and the message that Jesus himself had left the young Sister Faustina Kowalska of Cracow, who died in odor of sanctity, in 1938. John Paul II was aware of the story […]
In 1603, Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, commissioned Michael Angelo Merisi, otherwise known as Caravaggio, to produce the masterpiece called “The Sacrifice of Isaac” which is now displayed in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence. As a young artist, Caravaggio learned how to paint in the workshop of Simone Peterzano by studying life forms, […]
Today, we would like to consider the part of St Luke’s Gospel that recounts the episode of the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary (Lk 1:26-38). This part of the Gospel starts with the apparition of the angel Gabriel “to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s […]
This year, we prepare to cross the threshold of Lent with the penitential practice of the imposition of Ashes. In these forty days, the Church calls its children to live a period of penance in view of an increasingly vigorous conversion. This important time is precisely aimed at deep meditation on one’s own path […]
“Of you my heart has said, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Yahweh, I seek” (Ps 27, 8) Man has always searched to contemplate the face of God. Jesus told us that “to see Him is to see the Father” (Jn 14:9) and so, the contemplation of Christ’s face is the very contemplation of God. To […]