Padre Pio and the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday traveled to San Giovanni Rotondo to pray at the tomb of St. Pio of Pietrelcina.

He was joined in the pilgrimage to Padre Pio’s home by a crowd of “hundreds of thousands,” according to this post by the Catholic news service AsiaNews.

Said the Pope in his remarks at the Church of San Pio de Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, “Here in San Giovanni Rotondo, everything speaks of the sanctity of a humble friar and a zealous priest, who this evening also invites us to open our hearts to the mercy of God; he exhorts us to be holy, that is, sincere and true friends of Jesus.”

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis