The Franciscan shrine of Màgdala, on the western shore of Lake Tiberias, welcomed the Franciscan community of the Custody of the Holy Land for the second time in honour of the feast-day of St Mary Magdalene, the first to meet the Risen in front of the empty tomb, thus becoming the first witness of the victory of Jesus over death. The liturgical memory of the “Apostle to the Apostles” falls on 22 July, the day that Pope Francis - with a […]
Just before the Consistory of 30 September, when His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa will be elevated to the rank of Cardinal, he wanted to meet journalists at a press conference which was held on the morning of Tuesday 21 September in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Pierbattista Pizzaballa is about to leave for Rome, to define the last steps towards receiving the red biretta which will take place on the esplanade of St Peter’s Basilica next Saturday, 30 September. During the […]
The eleven “Martyrs of Damascus” are saints. The names of eight Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land and of three Maronite laymen ,the Massabki brothers, have been added to the list of saints. Their feast-day is confirmed on 10 July, the day on which they were killed “out of hatred for the faith” in Damascus in 1860. Canonization The canonization ceremony was held on 20 October in St Peter’s Square in Rome. Three other saints, all portrayed in […]
The 2020 Holy Week will be a very atypical one. The rites of the Easter Triduum will be celebrated without the participation of the faithful. For this reason, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has deemed it appropriate to postpone the Holy Land Collection which is usually offered on Good Friday to Catholics all over the world. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation, explains that, with the approval of Pope Francis, the Collection has been postponed until Sunday, September […]
