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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

5 Great ways to celebrate St. Carlo’s first feast day

It’s today! The feast day of the world’s first Millennial saint, the very beloved St. Carlo Acutis, whose canonization was just last month. Looking for a few ways to celebrate? We’ve got you covered with these ideas.  And to learn more about St. Carlo, check out his story here! St. Carlo deeply loved Our Lord Read More…

5 Great ways to celebrate St. Carlo’s first feast day

Philippines excited for Carlo Acutis relic tour, heart to heart

While the precise destinations are still being determined, the Philippines is already excited to receive a first-class relic of Carlo Acutis and pray with a piece of the heart of the young saint. The pericardium relic will visit various parishes in Metro Manila from November 28 to December 15. The relic is also expected to Read More…

Philippines excited for Carlo Acutis relic tour, heart to heart

The whole world loves him: Photos from Carlo’s canonization

On September 7 of this year, Pope Leo presided over his first two canonizations, officially declaring Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis as saints. Acutis, born in 1991 and dying in 2006, became the first millennial saint. The Holy Father spoke of the two youngsters as simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary. Here is part of what Read More…

The whole world loves him: Photos from Carlo’s canonization

A spiritual guide for sinners on how to stop a sinful habit

At some point in our lives, we may realize that there is a particular sin we want (need!) to stop. The sin may have become a nasty habit of ours and we may find it difficult to part ways with it. In some ways we may even be attached to it, fearing what our life Read More…

A spiritual guide for sinners on how to stop a sinful habit

5 Lessons my dad taught me about fatherhood

I’ve written before about how my dad taught me to be an adult. He also taught me to be a dad — and was a better one than me, I realize, now that I write it all down. So here are five lessons in fatherhood from the late, great F. Lance Hoopes. First: Teach kids Read More…

5 Lessons my dad taught me about fatherhood

Sagrada Familia will soon be the world’s tallest church

If you love big, sky-grabbing churches, keep your eye on Barcelona. The Sagrada Família is closing in on a milestone: Once its central Tower of Jesus is finished — planned at about 172–172.5 meters (about 565 feet) — the basilica will overtake every church on earth, edging past Germany’s Ulm Minster (161.5 m / 530 Read More…

Sagrada Familia will soon be the world’s tallest church

Founder of Korean monasticism on road to canonization

The Archdiocese of Seoul recently announced that the Vatican gave its approval, or “nihil obstat,” for the beatification cause for Fr. Leo Bang Yu-ryong, a priest who established monastic life in Korea. This means that the beatification cause can move forward and that Fr. Bang Yu-ryong can be referred to as a “Servant of God.“ Read More…

Founder of Korean monasticism on road to canonization

Man desecrates altar of St. Peter’s Basilica

A view of St. Peter's Basilica during the Mass for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, with Bernini's baldachin and the papal altar decorated with white flowers, Dec. 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 11, 2025 / 16:28 pm (CNA).

A man urinated on the Altar of Confession of St. Peter's Basilica on Friday before being taken away by security officers in the famous basilica, according to news reports.

The man climbed the altar and "urinated under the stunned gaze of hundreds of tourists," according to the newspaper Corriere della Sera's Rome edition. Video of the desecration was widely shared on social media.

Il Tempo reported that the man "was promptly reached by plainclothes police officers present in the basilica" and was escorted out of the church.

The latter newspaper claimed Pope Leo XIV was "shocked to learn of the news," though the Holy See Press Office had not released a statement about the incident as of Oct. 11.

This is not the first time this year that a vandal has attacked the altar from which the pope says Mass.

In February, a man desecrated the altar by climbing on top of it and throwing six candelabras that were on the altar to the ground.

In June 2023, meanwhile, a Polish man approached the high altar as the basilica was about to close, undressed, and climbed onto the altar. Photos posted online showed the words "Save children of Ukraine" written in marker on his back. The Vatican performed a penitential rite after that act of desecration.

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The powerful adoption film you need to see

Twenty-three years after placing her newborn for adoption, Kate Stapleton made a remarkable documentary about her story. That film is winning awards and drawing notice across the country. The Inner Sea is an unforgettable recounting of a young woman’s heartbreaking decision to place her baby for adoption — and the powerful working of grace as Read More…

The powerful adoption film you need to see

Spark of hope in Holy Land, problems in Peru

A “spark of hope” has emerged from the agreement ending hostilities in Gaza, said Pope Leo XIV at the end of Mass celebrated on October 12, 2025, in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality. The Pope prayed: We ask God, who is the true Peace of humanity, to heal Read More…

Spark of hope in Holy Land, problems in Peru