News Briefs

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance meets Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025 at the Vatican / Screenshot / Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, Apr 20, 2025 / 07:26 am (CNA).
Pope Francis met briefly with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance on Easter Sun… […]

Incense is dispensed at St. Peter’s Basilica during the Easter Vigil, Saturday, April 19, 2025 / Credit: Zosia Czubak

Vatican City, Apr 19, 2025 / 20:25 pm (CNA).

Catholics celebrated Easter Vigil in the Holy Night at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday, marking what Pope Francis in his homily said was the moment when “the divine light of the Resurrection begins to shine” and “the Lord’s Passover from death to life takes place as the sun is about to rise.”

Still recovering from his bout with pneumonia, the Holy Father delegated the liturgy to be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who read the pope’s homily during the Mass.

Hundreds of clergy were in attendance, including nearly three dozen cardinals.

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Catholics gather for Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 19, 2025 / Credit: Zosia Czubak

Vatican City, Apr 19, 2025 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

Candlelight illuminated St. Peter’s Basilica during the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday where Pope Francis’ homily, read on his behalf, proclaimed the resurrection of Christ as “the definitive turning point in human history.”  

“It falls to us to proclaim this Easter hope, this ‘turning point’ where darkness becomes light,” the pope wrote in the homily, delivered by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals. 

“The risen Christ … is the hope that does not fade. He is the love that accompanies us and sustains us,” he said. “He is the future of history, the ultimate destination towards which we walk, to be welcomed into that new life in which the Lord himself will wipe away all our tears and ‘death, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.’” 

Although Pope Francis did not preside at the liturgy due to his ongoing recovery from a recent hospitalization for double pneumonia, he made a surprise appearance in the basilica about two hours before the Mass. He paused to pray and greeted some of the pilgrims who had been waiting for hours for the Easter Mass at the Vatican. 

The pope, who has delegated cardinals to preside over all Holy Week events, entrusted the Easter Vigil to Cardinal Re. The Mass included the blessing of the new fire, the lighting of the Paschal Candle, and the singing of the Exsultet, a hymn recalling the story of salvation from creation to Christ’s resurrection. 

Thirty-four cardinals, 24 bishops, and about 250 priests processed silently through the dark basilica with lit candles, symbolizing the light of Christ overcoming darkness. 

The basilica gradually became illuminated throughout the liturgy until the Gloria, when bells rang out and the altar was revealed adorned with Easter flowers. 

During the vigil, three people from Italy and Albania were baptized. The congregation prayed the Litany of the Saints and renewed their baptismal promises. 

“In the risen Jesus we have the certainty that our personal history and that of our human family, albeit still immersed in a dark night where lights seem distant and dim, are nonetheless in God’s hands,” the pope wrote. “In his great love, he will not let us falter, or allow evil to have the last word.” 

Referencing the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to “let the hope of Easter blossom” in their lives. 

“When the thought of death lies heavy on our hearts … when we feel the wounds of selfishness or violence … let us not lose heart,” he wrote. “The light quietly shines forth, even though we are in darkness … and a new beginning, however impossible it might seem, can take us by surprise.” 

Pope Francis called on Christians to become messengers of this Easter hope through daily acts of love. 

“We can do this by our words, by our small daily acts, by decisions inspired by the Gospel,” he wrote. “Our whole life can be a presence of hope. We want to be that presence for those who lack faith in the Lord … for those who have given up … for the poor and oppressed … for the unborn and for children who are mistreated; and for the victims of war. To each of them let us bring the hope of Easter!” 

According to the Vatican, Cardinal Angelo Comastri, vicar general emeritus of Vatican City, is scheduled to preside over Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square. 

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Joseph Lovskiy (left), the only Catholic in his Russion Orthodox family, with his wife (right) and their youngest son, a Russian Orthodox priest, and his family. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Joseph Lovskiy

Rome Newsroom, Apr 19, 2025 / 06:00 am … […]

Thousands of faithful gather outside Rome’s illuminated Colosseum for the traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross ceremony on April 18, 2025, where Cardinal Reina led the procession featuring Pope Francis’s meditations on divine mercy and human fragility. / Vatican Media / Screenshot

CNA Newsroom, Apr 18, 2025 / 18:05 pm (CNA).

Against the ancient backdrop of Rome’s Colosseum, thousands gathered Friday evening for the solemn Via Crucis procession, where Cardinal Baldassare Reina carried the cross on behalf of Pope Francis, who remains in recovery from pneumonia but whose spiritual presence was palpably felt through his powerful meditations.

The 88-year-old pontiff, unable to attend the Good Friday ceremony in person for the third consecutive year due to ongoing recovery from bilateral pneumonia, prepared deeply reflective texts that accompanied the fourteen stations. Though absent physically, his words provided a particular presence as participants proceeded through the traditional commemoration of Christ’s passion.

In his meditations, Pope Francis contrasted “God’s economy, which does not kill, discard or crush” with today’s world built on “calculation and algorithms, cold logic and implacable interests.” This divine economy, he noted, “is lowly, faithful to the earth” and follows “the way of the Beatitudes” that “does not crush, but cultivates, repairs and protects.”

The liturgical ceremony began at 9:15 p.m. local time with Cardinal Reina, the pope’s vicar general for the diocese of Rome, carrying the cross for the first station. Various groups representing different aspects of the Church and society took turns bearing the wooden cross through subsequent stations, including youth, Caritas volunteers, families, people with disabilities, migrants, healthcare workers, religious, educators, and Jubilee volunteers.

Pope Francis described the Way of the Cross as “the prayer of people on the move” that “disrupts our usual routine” to lead from “weariness to joy.” His meditations stressed how Christ’s path through suffering represents “a change of course and a change of pace — a conversion that restores joy and brings us home.”

“The road to Calvary passes through the streets we tread each day,” the pope wrote in his introduction.

“Usually, Lord, we are walking in the other direction, and so it may just happen that we encounter you, catch sight of your face, meet your gaze.”

Several meditations focused on human fragility and God’s response to it. At the seventh station, where Jesus falls for the second time, the pope reflected, “Fall and get up again; fall and get up again. That is how you taught us, Jesus, to approach the adventure of human life.” He added that humans “are not mass-produced but handcrafted: we are unique treasures, a blend of grace and responsibility.”

When addressing Jesus being stripped of his garments in the tenth station, Francis noted, “You are the Bridegroom who lets himself be taken and touched, who turns everything to good… You know each of us singly, so as to save us together: all of us, each and every one.”

The ceremony concluded with Saint Francis’s prayer: “Most High and glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart. Grant me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity, and profound humility.”

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Saints Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome, guard the entrance to Ponte Sant’Angelo, welcoming pilgrims as they begin their journey toward St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2025 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

Each year, thousands of faithful pilgrims purposefully pass over the Tiber River via Rome’s Ponte Sant’Angelo, where marble messengers lining the bridge recall Christ’s passion through the sacred symbols they solemnly hold.

In 1535, Pope Clement VII ordered the placement of statues of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patrons of Rome, at the bridge’s entrance. However, it wasn’t until 1669 that Pope Clement IX commissioned a new balustrade designed by the renowned Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Ten angels, each bearing an element of the Passion, were placed atop this structure, sculpted by Bernini’s students under his meticulous direction.

Today, on Good Friday, the Catholic Church commemorates the crucifixion of the Lord. The bridge has undergone extensive restoration in recent months, and this jubilee Holy Week unveils its newly refreshed marble.

The iconic bridge, connecting the “Ponte” district with the Borgo and the castle that once served as a papal residence, a fortress in times of war, and a prison for criminals was reopened to pedestrians in January to mark the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope and the inauguration of the new Piazza Pia, which now links Via della Conciliazione directly to Vatican City.

The angels of Ponte Sant’Angelo were designed to serve as a spiritual guide for pilgrims on their journey toward St. Peter’s Basilica.

Looking up while walking along the bridge, visitors first encounter an angel holding a column in its arms, a reminder of Christ’s scourging. At its base, the inscription reads: “Tronus meus in columna” (“My throne is upon a column”), a work attributed to Antonio Raggi.

Directly opposite stands an angel carrying whips, with the inscription: “In flagella paratus sum” (“I am ready for the scourging”), sculpted by Lazzaro Morelli.

Further along, an angel holds the Veil of Veronica, the cloth used to wipe Christ’s sweat and blood, on which His face was imprinted. The base of this sculpture, created by Cosimo Fancelli, bears the inscription: “Respice faciem Christi tui” (Look upon the face of your Christ).

Notably, its pedestal bears a dent from a cannonball impact during the defense of the Vatican in 1870.

On the opposite side, an angel holds the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head, sculpted by Paolo Naldini and completed by Bernini himself. The original sculpture is now housed in the Roman church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte. The inscription reads: “In aerumna mea dum configitur spina” (In my affliction, while the thorn is driven in).

Next, an angel presents Christ’s tunic along with the dice used by the soldiers to cast lots for His garments. The inscription on this sculpture reads: “Super vestimentum meum miserunt sortem” (They cast lots for my tunic), a work by Paolo Naldini.

Another angel carries a cross, a piece sculpted by Ercole Ferrata, inscribed with “Cuius principatus super humerum eius” (And the dominion is upon His shoulder), referring to Christ as the prophesied Messiah and King.

Following this, a second Bernini-designed angel holds a plaque with the inscription INRI. The sign above the cross explains the reason for His execution: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

The inscription at the sculpture’s base reads: “Regnavit a ligno Deus” (God has reigned from the tree), referring to Christ’s cross. The original piece was also moved to Sant’Andrea delle Fratte.

Another angel holds a set of nails, symbolizing those used to pierce Christ’s hands and feet. The accompanying inscription, “Aspicient ad me quem confixerunt” (They will look upon the one they have pierced), frames this sculpture by Girolamo Lucenti.

Opposite stands an angel carrying a sponge, recalling the one used by the soldiers to give vinegar to Jesus. Its inscription reads “Potaverunt me aceto” (They gave me vinegar to drink), a piece by Antonio Giorgetti.

Finally, there is the angel sculpted by Domenico Guidi, holding a lance—the weapon used by St. Longinus to pierce Christ’s side, from which blood and water flowed. At its base, the inscription reads: “Vulnerasti cor meum” (You have wounded my heart).

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Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, gives the homily during a two-hour Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday, April 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 18, 2025 / 13:29 pm (CNA).
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