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The Republican Party did not release an updated platform in 2020. However, in its 2024 platform, the GOP significantly dialed back its language on marriage, remarking on it only briefly while vowing to “empower American families.” “Republicans will promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and supports working parents,” the platform says. “We will end policies that punish families.” The GOP’s 2024 platform is largely seen as being heavily guided by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. CBS News referred to the document as “Trump-influenced,” while NPR said the platform “follows Trump’s lead.” Trump has given conflicting answers on same-sex marriage in the past, though in 2016 he said he was “fine” with the ...

Serving as a nurse and postulant for the Handmaids of Charity in Montichiari, Gilli first encountered the Blessed Virgin privately while praying in a hospital chapel in the spring of 1947. As Gilli described in her diary, the Virgin Mary appeared wearing a violet dress and white veil with an expression of sorrow and tears in her eyes. Showing her heart pierced with three swords, Our Lady asked for prayer, penance, and sacrifice. Appearing again to Gilli on July 13, 1947, the Blessed Virgin Mary was dressed in white and instead of having three swords in her breast, she had three roses: a white one, a red one, and a yellow one that symbolized the spirits of prayer, sacrifice, and penance.  When asked by Gilli who she was, Our Lady responded: “I am the mother of Jesus and the mother of a...

Pope Francis presides at Mass in Trieste for the conclusion of 50th Italian Catholic Social Week, and says the world needs the “scandal of faith” that enters human history and becomes a leaven of hope and a seed for a new world. By Christopher Wells What the world needs now is “the scandal of faith,” Pope Francis said during his homily for Mass on Sunday, which he presided in the Italian city of Trieste to mark the conclusion of the 50th Italian Catholic Social Week. The Holy Father began his reflection by noting that Jesus Himself was rejected by His own countrymen, precisely because of His humanity. They saw only His ordinary life as “the son of Joseph the carpenter,” and could not understand the source of His wisdom and His miracles. “A strong and powerful God is under...

Many historians researching World War II have come to the Vatican’s underground stacks since 2020 when Pope Francis opened the archives of the pontificate of Pius XII. The Vatican archive also contains the original 1530 letter addressed to Pope Clement VII requesting permission for an annulment for King Henry VIII so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Pope Francis changed the name of the archive, which had been known as the Vatican Secret Archive since the 17th century, to Vatican Apostolic Archive in 2019 to avoid the negative associations that accompany modern interpretations of the word “secret.” As the new prefect, Ronzani succeeds Archbishop Sergio Pagano, who worked in the Vatican archives for 45 years, serving as prefect since 1997. Pagano recently published a book titled “Secretum,” ...

Archbishop Viganò excommunicated Skip to content The Vatican doctrine office announced Friday that it had found Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò guilty of the canonical crime of schism and declared his automatic excommunication. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. A July 5 statement from the Holy See press office said that the verdict of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) was reached on Thursday and communicated to the former papal nuncio to the United States Friday. Share The statement said: “On 4 July 2024, the congress of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith met to conclude the extrajudicial penal process referred to in canon 1720 CIC against the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Viganò, titular Archbishop of Ulpiana, accused of the reserved delict of schism (canons 751 and 1364 C...

En español The following prayer was composed by Baltimore Archbishop John Carroll in 1791.  We pray, O almighty and eternal God, who through Jesus Christ has revealed thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name. We pray Thee, who alone are good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, the pope, the vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, all other bishops, prelates and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct your people into the ways of salvation. We pray O God ...

Vatican budget black hole swallows Peter’s Pence Skip to content Peter’s Pence, the annual collection to support the work of the Holy Father, reported an uptick in donations for 2023, but allocated nearly 90% of revenue to Vatican operating expenses. And although voluntary donations climbed after 2022, total revenue to Peter’s Pence in 2023 nearly halved, after the fund disposed of millions of euros in real estate assets to help cover the operations of the Roman curia the previous year. While climbing Peter’s Pence donations are getting headlines, the more important story told by the report is an ongoing budget black hole at the center of the Roman curia, with the Vatican’s need for cash absorbing not only donations to Peter’s Pence, but triggering a sale of the fund’s assets as well. Imag...

Pope Francis presides at an Ordinary Consistory of Cardinals, which approved the canonization of 15 people, including Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be made a saint. By Devin Watkins The College of Cardinals gathered with Pope Francis on Monday morning in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace for an Ordinary Public Consistory. The Pope led the Cardinals residing in Rome in praying Mid-Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours before they proceeded to review the causes of canonization of several Blesseds. Cardinal Marcelo Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints, presented a brief report—known in Latin as the Peroratio—on the lives and miracles of the 15 people under consideration, after which the Consistory voted and approved their canonization. Martyrs and ...

However, the leaders pointed out that “for centuries” church properties have had exemptions from municipal taxes according to the established status quo and that the churches have used this exemption to invest in services that benefit the state such as “schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and facilities for the disadvantaged.” The leaders pointed out that the municipal actions are “tendentious” and contrary to the historical position of the churches and their relationship with the government, “violating the existing agreements and international commitments that ensure the rights of the churches.” “It is an outrage that, specifically during such sensitive and complicated times when patience, compassion, unity in prayer, and hope should prevail, municipalities are opening cases against church...

Archbishop Viganò, who has been in hiding for years, announced on social media June 20 that he had been summoned to Rome to answer formal charges of schism. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò on Friday said he will not participate in a Vatican summons to face charges of schism, reiterating his claims that Pope Francis is not the legitimate pope of the Catholic Church.  The archbishop had previously revealed he received an email from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith informing him of the trial. The deadline for Viganò to appear before the Vatican expired today. The former papal nuncio to the United States — who garnered headlines in 2018 for alleging that senior Church officials covered up abuses committed by former cardinal Theodore McCarrick — has repeatedly rejected the authori...

This is the second abortion-related Supreme Court case to be prematurely released in two years. A decision in a high-stakes abortion case was accidentally prematurely posted to the Supreme Court’s website on Wednesday. Though not the final ruling, the inadvertently leaked document indicates that the court will return the abortion case to a lower court, allowing emergency room doctors in Idaho to perform abortions, despite it being illegal in the state. What Happened? Patricia McCabe, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court, confirmed with CNA that the document, which was first reported on by Bloomberg, is authentic but emphasized that it is not the final decision. “The court’s Publications Unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the court’s website,” she explained. She said that...