Register Summary

Pope John Paul II told tens of thousands of pilgrims, who spent the last hours of the year 2000 in a frigid St. Peter's Square, that God guides the events of the world.

On the threshold of the third Christian millennium, he repeated a familiar prayer of confidence in God for all that is to come: “In you, O Lord, I trust, let me never be put to shame!”

The Holy Father reminded everyone to look to Christ to find mankind's destiny. Wishing fraternity and prosperity to all nations, he called young people the hope of the future.

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