Photo illustration. / ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 5, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).Every Holy Thursday, groups of Catholic faithful across the country and world embark on what s known as the Seven Churches Visitation. In this special tradition, pilgrims adore Christ in seven different altars of repose while praying and reflecting on the passion of Christ.At the end of each Holy Thursday Mass, the priest strips the altar and removes the Eucharist from the tabernacle to place it in repose on another nearby altar.The Seven Churches Visitation (or Pilgrimage) is credited as beginning in Rome with St. Philip Neri in the 1500s. Neri would lead groups of faithful to visit each of the seven basilicas of Rome on Holy Thursday night as a way of keeping watch with Christ as though at the Garden of Gethsemane before his passion. Today, the devotion is primarily practiced in Latin America, Italy, Poland, and the Philippines.Each visit calls on the faithful to reflect on the.
Pope Francis presided over a Chrism Mass at which more than 1,880 priests, bishops, and cardinals renewed the promises made at their ordinations on April 6, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, Apr 6, 2023 / 03:50 am (CNA).On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis presided over a Chrism Mass at which more than 1,880 priests, bishops, and cardinals renewed the promises made at their ordinations.Pope Francis thanked the priests for the "hidden good" that they do, often in a ministry carried out "with great effort and little recognition."In his homily, the pope said that on "the birthday of the priesthood," he wanted to highlight the vital presence that the Holy Spirit plays in the ministry and life of every priest."For without the Spirit of the Lord, there can be no Christian life; without his anointing, there can be no holiness," he said in St. Peter s Basilica on April 6.Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist and institution of the sacr
Residents of Adunu line up to cast their ballots in Adunu Feb. 25, 2023. / Courtesy of Father Dauda Musa Bahago.Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 6, 2023 / 03:00 am (CNA).Armed bandits killed one person and kidnapped more than 100 others in a March 14 raid on a predominantly Catholic town in north-central Nigeria, according to a Catholic priest and other local sources.Father Dauda Musa Bahago, a coordinator for the Justice, Development, and Peace Commission, a Catholic aid organization, told CNA the attack took place in his hometown of Adunu, in Niger state, during a memorial Mass in a nearby town for Father Isaac Achia, a Catholic priest who was burned to death Jan. 15. The bandits began attacking Adunu at 9 a.m., then moved to attack the town hosting the memorial service but turned back when they encountered Nigerian army soldiers guarding the town, Bahago said. Three weeks after the attack, 62 people are still being held for ransom by Muslim Fulani bandits, .
Abbot Placid Solari, 70, chancellor of Belmont Abbey Catholic College in Belmont, North Carolina. / Credit: Belmont Abbey CollegeBelmont, North Carolina, Apr 6, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).What s needed in today s college environment is diversity, said Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.But his definition of diversity is not the one most people are used to hearing about. The 70-year-old, spectacled abbot told CNA that though sorely needed, "religious diversity is not the diversity people want," most especially not in academia.Forgoing his normal lunch after Mass and noonday prayers, Solari sat in his office for an interview on a rainy Friday in March.Inside the 100-year-old-plus Benedictine monastery, located in the town of Belmont, a suburb of Charlotte, Solari answered questions in a quiet voice, reflecting on his 23 years as abbot at North Carolina s only Catholic college.The college experience today is almost always associated with either binge-drink
null / Credit: Mon Petit Chou Photography / UnsplashWashington D.C., Apr 6, 2023 / 08:30 am (CNA).A bill that would ban abortions after six weeks gestation passed the Florida Senate and appears to be on its way to becoming law; however, lawmakers first need the state Supreme Court to overturn a decades-old "right to privacy" enshrined in the state constitution.The Heartbeat Protection Act, sponsored by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, passed the Senate 26-13 with support from most Republicans in the chamber and opposition from Democrats. The bill, which Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged he would sign if it gets to his desk, will now be considered by the House, which has a strong 84-35 Republican supermajority."For decades now, Florida has been a nationwide leader in defending the rights of the unborn," Grall said in a statement upon the bill s passage. "The Heartbeat Protection Act will make Florida a beacon of hope for those who understand that life is sacred and must