Catholic Fire

April 3, 2013. ( Romereports.com ) The Vatican issued the liturgical agenda for Pope Francis for the months of April and May, which will includes several celebrations outside of the Vatican. First up on April 7 is the ceremony to take possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran as the Bishop of Rome. The following Sunday, he will celebrate a Mass at that same time at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. On April 21, he returns to St. Peter's Basilica for a 9:30AM service, where he will ordain several priests. The following Sunday at St. Peter's Square, during a 10AM Mass he will confirm a group of young Catholics. For the month of May, the major liturgical celebrations will all take place at St. Peter's Square. His only planned event outside the Vatican is a rosary service at 6PM on Saturday, May 4 at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. The next day, on May 5, he will officiate a Mass at 10AM for confraternities, organizations of Catholic lay people. Sund...

April 3, 2013. ( Romereports.com ) After a few days of rest from a busy Holy Week schedule, Pope Francis returned to the public eye with an inclusive message of the Resurrection, tasking women to become the messengers of faith and hope. Retelling the story of how a group of women were the first to find Christ's tomb empty, he highlighted the fact that instead of keeping the news of his Resurrection to themselves, they spread it. POPE FRANCIS “The first witnesses of the Resurrection are women. This is beautiful, and this is the mission of women, of mothers and grandmothers, to give witness to their children and grandchildren that Christ is Risen! Mothers go forward with this witness!” During his speech, he referred to that message of hope and faith that comes from the Resurrection, as mankind's greatest treasure, which must be shared with others. In addition to his outreach to women, he also called on the youth to do their part to spread faith and hope among their pe...

February 21, 2013. (Romereports.com) Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson, released more details about the last public appearance for Benedict XVI as Pope. It will take place on Wednesday, February 27 at St. Peter's Square and will follow the structure of a regular general audience.   However, a much larger number of pilgrims are expected to attend. So far, they Vatican has received 30,000 requests for the seated areas of the square. His last general audience will promptly begin at 10:30, as is usual. Before it starts, Benedict XVI will quickly ride through the square on the Popemobile to greet the pilgrims. First, there will be the day's reading of the Gospel, and after, the catechesis by Benedict XVI in several languages. FR. FEDERICO LOMBARDI Vatican Spokesperson “There won't be a particular or complex structure. Father Sapienza says it won't even last longer that usual. He thinks it will be done by midday.” During the conference, Lombardi also...

February 18, 2013. (Romereports.com) This week, Benedict XVI will not be seen in public. On Sunday afternoon he began a spiritual retreat, to reflect on the first week of Lent. These spiritual exercises have become part of a tradition now, where the Pope stops all activities and gathers in prayer with other members of the Roman Curia. But of course, this time around the retreat coincides with the last days of his pontificate, making it even more appealing to the public. Italian Cardinal, Gianfranco Ravasi will be leading the spiritual exercises. CARD. GIANFRANCO RAVASI President, Pontifical Council for Culture “We begin these days with great excitement. They are days of solitude, silence, meditation,with all my brothers and friends here present. We come to show our affection, of our gratitude, and our admiration.” Cardinal Ravasi is an active user of the social networking sites, especially Twitter. So he has decided to write posts that summarize the key messages of the day. ...