A young father visits his grandmother's parish and comes to realize that his grandmother did more to hand on the faith to him than virtually anyone else in his life.
The idea, Katie Kirkland said, came to her while she was sitting at Christmas Mass in the warmth and light of the soaring sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Sterling: How many people would be alone that holiday, without a
After battling traffic for an hour, Pope Francis arrived at St. Mary, Mother of Hospitality parish on the far eastern edge of Rome for a meeting with area priests and a visit with people housed in 12 apartments the parish owns.
Vatican News
Less priestly vocations. Shrinking Catholic populations. An influx of immigrants bringing with them different religious traditions. Aging church structures that need cost-prohibitive repairs. These are just a few of the reasons parishes around the country are facing mergers or closures. Recently, the
A priest on the road to sainthood, who has united millions of Catholic men across the world, is drawing faithful together in the town where he first served.
The Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, announced it will merge seven parishes in New Haven into
The Barcelona Archdiocese will combine most parishes into larger pastoral communities, amid falling church attendance and secularization.
A statement on the archdiocesan website said most Spanish dioceses were facing the same process. It said three to six parishes would be grouped together, resulting
One year ago, many Catholic parishes were starting to close their doors, temporarily, at the start of the pandemic.
Now, some of them are opening their parking lots or church halls as venues for people in their local communities to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
Hospitals
After seeing public Masses canceled for weeks earlier this year, parishes across the country have reopened even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, but are the faithful coming back? Parish and diocesan officials interviewed by Our Sunday Visitor say that while a return
The recent Vatican instruction on pastoral care clarifies the responsibility of every member of the church community to work together in the shared mission of evangelization and warns against turning the parish into a mere provider of services, said Cardinal Beniamino Stella.
The
The Vatican's Congregation for Clergy issued a new instruction on pastoral care that specifies the role of lay men and women in the church's mission of evangelization and offers guidance in parish reforms and restructuring.
The 22-page document, titled "The pastoral conversion of