A candlelight Stations of the Cross in St. Peter’s Square on Good Friday 2021. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, May 2, 2022 / 10:39 am (CNA).
Throughout the month of May, the Vatican will host two weekly occasions for prayer in honor of the Blesse… […]
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa preaches at the Good Friday liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica, April 15, 2022. / Screenshot from Vatican News YouTube channel.
Vatican City, Apr 15, 2022 / 10:32 am (CNA).
On Good Friday, Pope Francis celebrated the … […]
St. Peter’s Basilica. / Mazur/cbcew.org.uk.
Vatican City, Mar 2, 2022 / 10:05 am (CNA).
The Vatican is inviting Catholics to pray the Stations of the Cross in St. Peter’s Basilica every Friday during Lent.Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, who is in char… […]
St. Peter’s Basilica, seen through the Vatican’s Christmas tree. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Vatican City, Dec 15, 2021 / 05:20 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has approved the creation of a new foundation promoting spirituality, art, formation, and dialogue i… […]
Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24, 2018. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Dec 14, 2021 / 15:35 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has published Pope Francis’ Christmas schedule for this year, which includes five special liturgies and prayers between Christmas Eve and the Solemnity of the Epiphany.
During the Christmas Octave, the pope is also scheduled to give an Angelus address on St. Stephen’s Day on Dec. 26 and hold a Wednesday General Audience on Dec. 29.
Papal Christmas Mass – Dec. 24
Pope Francis will offer Mass for the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24. This “Midnight Mass” will begin at 7:30 p.m. Rome time (1:30 p.m. EST) with the traditional Kalenda Proclamation of the Birth of Christ and will be broadcast live on EWTN.
Christmas Day Blessing – Dec. 25
On Christmas Day, Pope Francis will give a traditional papal blessing at noon called the “Urbi et Orbi,” which in Latin means, “To the City and the World.” Along with the blessing, the pope gives an address that highlights humanitarian crises, war-stricken countries, and other situations around the world in need of prayer.
The pope typically gives this blessing from the central loggia of the basilica overlooking St. Peter’s Square (the same balcony from which a new pope is introduced), but last year Pope Francis gave the blessing from inside the Apostolic Palace to avoid a large gathering of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vespers on New Year’s Eve – Dec. 31
Pope Francis will pray the First Vespers for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31. After vespers, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for Eucharistic Adoration and the “Te Deum” will be sung in thanksgiving for the past year.
Solemnity of Mary Holy Mother of God – Jan. 1
The pope’s first liturgy of 2022 will be in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Francis will offer Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. On this day, Pope Francis will also mark the 55th World Day of Peace.
Mass for the Epiphany of the Lord – Jan. 6
Pope Francis will offer Mass on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. The Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men.
Pope Francis lays his hands on the head of Guido Marini during his episcopal consecration in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 17, 2021 / Daniel Ibanez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
Vatican City, Oct 17, 2021 / 05:21 am (CNA).
On Sunday, Pope Francis consecrated two new bishops for the Catholic Church in St. Peter’s Basilica: Bishop Guido Marini of Tortona, Italy, and Bishop Andrés Gabriel Ferrada Moreira, secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy.
During the Mass, Pope Francis reminded the bishops-elect to always be close to God, their brother bishops, priests, and the People of God.
Two of the most important things a Catholic bishop must do are pray and announce the Gospel, the pope said in impromptu comments during the homily Oct. 17.
“The first task of the bishop is to pray,” he said, “and not like a parrot, to pray with the heart, to pray.”
Do not make excuses about not having time to pray, he added. “Remove the other things, because praying is the bishop’s first duty.”
Pope Francis also advised the bishops-elect to go out of their way to make time for their priests: “If you learn that a priest has called you, call him the same day or the day after. And with this he will know that he has a father.”
“May the Lord make you grow on this path of closeness, in this way you will better imitate the Lord, because he has always been close and is always close to us, and with his closeness, which is a compassionate and tender closeness, he carries us forward,” Francis concluded his homily. “And may Our Lady watch over you.”
During the consecration, the bishops-elect promised to preach the gospel with faithfulness and perseverance, to protect the deposit of faith, to care for Catholics as a father, to be welcoming and merciful to the poor, to obey the pope, to pray tirelessly, and “to go in search of the lost sheep to bring them back to the fold of Christ.”
Marini and Ferrada then prostrated themselves on the ground while the Litany of Saints was sung.
Afterward, Pope Francis laid his hands on each of the men as they knelt in front of him. Other bishops also laid their hands on the heads of the bishops-elect.
An open Book of the Gospels was held over their heads while Pope Francis said the prayer of consecration.
The new bishops each received the miter and crosier, as well as a ring with the image of a shepherd carrying a lamb, which they will wear on the third finger of their right hands.
Bishop Guido Marini, 56, was the Vatican’s head master of ceremonies for papal liturgies for 14 years. On Aug. 29, Pope Francis named him to lead the Diocese of Tortona, which is in northern Italy not far from Marini’s hometown of Genoa.
Bishop Andrés Gabriel Ferrada, 52, is from Chile’s capital city, Santiago. He was named the titular archbishop of Tiburnia in honor of his new position as secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy.
Cardinal Wilton Gregory ordains deacons from Rome’s North American College in St. Peter’s Basilica, Sept. 30, 2021. / PNAC Photo Service via Flickr.
Vatican City, Oct 1, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Cardinal Wilton Gregory ordained 20 seminarians from… […]
St. Peter’s Basilica / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Aug 28, 2021 / 08:20 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Saturday made several temporary changes to the Vatican’s Chapter of St. Peter, a group of retired priests who pray and assist in the liturgical activities of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The new norms cut the chapter’s expenses and move its financial management under the Fabric of St. Peter, the office which manages St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope issued the changes to the Chapter of St. Peter Aug. 28. They go into effect Oct. 1 and have a duration of one year while the chapter’s juridical statutes are under revision.
Pope Francis said the changes have been made “in order to facilitate the start of the reform of the Chapter of St. Peter in the Vatican.”
The Chapter of St. Peter was established in 1043 by St. Leo IX to guarantee regular prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica and, in the earlier years, to assist the pope in managing patrimonial goods donated to the papacy, including real estate.
The group is chaired by the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, currently Cardinal Mauro Gambetti. It has a vicar and 34 members. The members are chosen from among the most remarkable personalities in the Catholic Church when they retire.
Many of them come from the Roman Curia and receive a Vatican pension in addition to the fee paid to chapter members for their service. One of Pope Francis’ Aug. 28 reforms was to state that members can only receive the emolument from the chapter if they are not also receiving another commission, pension, or salary from the Vatican.
The priests will be appointed by Pope Francis for two roles: canon or coadjutor, according to the new norms. Canons will “provide the service of liturgical and pastoral animation at St. Peter’s Basilica.”
Coadjutors will “work in liturgical celebrations, in pastoral works and in other tasks that can be entrusted to them by the Archpriest together with the Chapter.”
Pope Francis also transferred some of the economic activities of the chapter, the Treasury Museum and sale of religious objects, to the management of the Fabric of St. Peter.
The chapter will continue to administer the real estate and financial assets already under its management, though a large part of the patrimony had already been transferred under the Administration of the Apostolic See (APSA), according to a former member of the chapter.
Priests of the Chapter of St. Peter are “professionals of prayer,” Benedict XVI said in a private audience with the group in 2007.
The commitment to prayer is central to their activity. Until the middle of the 20th century, the chapter members had to be in the basilica on a daily basis to pray the hours, be in adoration, and serve in the liturgical celebrations.
The chapter is now mainly involved on Sundays and feast days, or in celebrations with the pope.
The reform of the Chapter of St. Peter is happening alongside a reform of the organization and schedule of St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis forbid private Masses in the upper part of the basilica earlier this year. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the new archpriest, wants to go further and have only two Masses per day, in Italian, broadcast by the Vatican communications service.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any nuttier in the Vatican, they do. On June 28 (the vigil of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, of all days), Monsignor Franco Camaldo, secretary of […]
Vatican City, Jun 22, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA). The cardinal in charge of St. Peter’s Basilica has clarified details of a ban on the celebration of private Masses in the upper part of the […]
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