by Francis Rocca | May 1, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The casket of the late Pope John Paul II was exhumed Friday (April 29), in preparation for the late pontiff’s beatification ceremony on Sunday. John Paul’s casket was removed in the early morning hours from its tomb in the Vatican Grottoes, under...
by Francis Rocca | May 1, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The late Pope John Paul II, who elevated unprecedented numbers of Catholic saints and blesseds during his 26-year reign, joined those ranks himself on Sunday (May 1), when he was beatified before a crowd of more than a million pilgrims. Pope...
by Francis Rocca | Apr 27, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Jesse was just 10 days old in November 2009 when he was diagnosed with Herpes simplex, a virus often lethal to a newborn child. Doctors at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. told his parents that he had no better than a 50...
by Francis Rocca | Apr 27, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A small quantity of blood from the late Pope John Paul II will be exposed as a holy relic during his beatification on Sunday (May 1), the Vatican has announced. The blood was taken during a medical test shortly before John Paul’s death in April...
by Francis Rocca | Apr 18, 2011 | News
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Belgium’s Catholic bishops declared themselves “extremely shocked” on Friday (Apr. 15) by a former bishop who described the sexual abuse of two young nephews as a “game” that did not involve penetration or physical violence. Bishop Roger Vangheluwe,...
