A worker disinfects before Mass at Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria in Campitelli May 18, 2020. The Pontifical Council for Culture at the Vatican distributed guidelines May 20 for cleaning and protecting church objects during the coronavirus pandemic.

Vatican distributes notes on cleaning, protecting church objects

VATICAN CITY -- To help prevent damaging artistic and historically significant objects, the Pontifical Council for Culture released suggestions for cleaning and disinfecting church buildings, furnishings and sacred objects.

“Ascension” etching by Jan Luyken.

God's Word on Sunday: God’s work for us is on Earth

Ascension of the Lord, May 24 (Year A) Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:17-23; Matthew 28:16-20

What did Jesus tell the disciples during the 40 days He was with them after the Resurrection? We can only imagine and speculate, and some in the early Church did just that.

Pope John Paul II gestures to the crowd during World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. Msgr. Slawomir Oder, postulator for the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II, said he and the commission involved in investigating the life of the late pope for sainthood found no evidence the pope knowingly neglected or covered up abuse scandals.

Investigators: No evidence St. John Paul covered up abuse

ROME -- The postulator and the commission involved in investigating the life of Pope John Paul II for sainthood cause found no evidence that the pope knowingly neglected or covered up abuse scandals, the postulator said.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI, pictured in a 2013 file photo.

Pope Benedict: St. John Paul's life marked by mercy, not moral rigidity

VATICAN CITY -- The continuity between St. John Paul II and Pope Francis is rooted in the message of God's divine mercy for all men and women, retired Pope Benedict XVI said in a letter commemorating his predecessor's birth.

The main entrance of the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education has asked pontifical universities to reopen in the fall with students present but many are making back-up plans.

Pontifical universities planning to reopen in the fall

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education has asked pontifical universities and faculties to plan to reopen in the fall and teach with students present.

Nurses wearing face masks take part in an event held to mark International Nurses Day, at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China, May 12, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pope Francis to nurses, midwives: 'Thank you for your service to humanity'

VATICAN CITY -- The coronavirus pandemic has drawn well-deserved attention to nurses and midwives, who are among "the saints next door," dedicated to helping people in some of the most joyful or painful moments of their lives, Pope Francis said.

A robot equipped with artificial intelligence is seen at the AI Xperience Center at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels Feb. 19, 2020. The Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life is fostering ethics and multidisciplinary alliances in the AI debate.

Papal academy fosters ethics, multidisciplinary alliances in AI debate

VATICAN CITY -- Given the huge impact technology and artificial intelligence will have on humanity and the environment, the Pontifical Academy for Life is seeking to foster more ethical and moral reflection.

Perhaps as a spiritual exercise we could be a “Samaritan for a day.” Be especially alert for events and people that give hope and light. Be eager to reach out for the unfamiliar and new that show promise. And above all, be grateful for the gifts that God gives.

God's Word on Sunday: Power of God overcomes all barriers

Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 17 (Year A) Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; Psalm 66; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21

Samaria must have been quite a sight. Demons shrieking, the paralyzed and lame regaining their strength and mobility, and countless other signs and wonders amazed the multitudes. Many were moved to accept the word of God and be baptized.

God's Word on Sunday: The Spirit keeps Church moving forward

God's Word on Sunday: The Spirit keeps Church moving forward

Fifth Sunday of Easter May 10 (Year A) Acts 6:1-7; Psalm 33; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12

The period of serene apostolic simplicity and unity did not last long.

Our Lady of Peace in Toronto, complete with arrangements of fresh flowers, looked very different this Easter compared to its usual full house.

The spiritual frontline amid pandemic

On a cold afternoon in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I took my shopping trolley to go for some groceries. 

Pope Francis greets Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, during an audience with participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for Clergy at the Vatican June 1, 2017. Pope Francis has expanded the ranks of the top members of the College of Cardinals, naming as "cardinal bishops" Cardinal Stella and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Pope Francis makes promotions within the College of Cardinals

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has expanded the ranks of the top members of the College of Cardinals, naming as "cardinal bishops" Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

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