Articles by Catherine Harmon

Yesterday US Secretary of State John Kerry met for an hour and 40 minutes with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin. According to Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the meeting was “extremely important” and “intensive,” […]

Today Pope Francis delivered the traditional New Year address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, highlighting the problems and challenges he sees as most pressing in what has come to be known as the papal “state […]

Yesterday, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Pope Francis baptized 32 children during Mass held in the Sistine Chapel (celebrated ad orientem at the chapel’s high altar, incidentally). One of the newly […]

This week at CWR we’re featuring two articles on closely related topics: the spread of non-invasive, highly accurate prenatal testing for Down syndrome (and the expected increase in abortion of unborn babies diagnosed with Down […]

John Allen, the veteran Vatican reporter who has covered Catholicism and the Holy See for the National Catholic Reporter for more than a decade, will be leaving that publication and joining the Boston Globe as […]

From the Associated Press: Militants in Iraq targeted Christians in three separate Christmas Day bombings in Baghdad, killing at least 37 people, officials said Wednesday. In one attack, a car bomb went off near a […]

Speaking to a crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square on Christmas morning, Pope Francis delivered the traditional Christmas “Urbi et Orbi” (“To the City and the World”) message and blessing. Below, via Vatican Radio, is […]

This evening in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated his first Midnight Mass as pope. Below is the text of his homily, as translated by Vatican Radio. *** 1. “The people who walked in darkness have […]

Last week students at a Seattle-area Catholic high school staged a sit-in to protest the removal of their school’s vice principal, who the school says violated his employment contract by marrying another man over the […]