St. Zita was born into a poor but holy Christian family. Her older sister became a Cistercian nun and her uncle Graziano was a hermit whom the local people regarded as a saint. Zita herself always tried to do God's will obediently whenever it was pointed out to her by her mother. At the age of twelve Zita became a housekeeper in the house of a rich weaver in Lucca, Italy, eight miles from her home at Monte Sagrati. As things turned out, she stayed with that family for the last forty-eight years ...

Pope Leo XIV blesses the cornerstone of the Gemelli Hospital's new “Pope Francis Heart Centre," expressing his hope that the hospital’s mission may remain rooted in human and Christian formation as well as medical excellence.

Read all

 

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin reflects on the 325th anniversary of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which forms future papal diplomats, as Pope Leo XIV visits the institution for the first time since his election.

Read all

 

Pope Leo XIV authorizes the promulgation of decrees recognizing the martyrdom, offering of life, and heroic virtues of several Servants of God, advancing their causes for canonization.

Read all

 

Meeting for the first time with the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Pope Leo XIV encourages Catholics and Anglicans to proclaim Christ to the world together, working to overcome any differences and challenges.

Read all

 

Archbishop José Bettencourt, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, speaks to Vatican News about Pope Leo’s recently-concluded Apostolic Journey across Africa. He says that the Pope’s visit was an opportunity to “touch the joys and the sorrows of the body of Christ in this part of the world”.

Read all

 

Organizers of the World Youth Day 2027 name five patron saints whose lives reflect persecution, migration, and social struggle, presenting them as guides for young people preparing for the global gathering.

Read all

 

St. Cletus was the third bishop of Rome, and succeeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The canon of the Roman mass, (which Bossuet and all others agree to be of primitive antiquity,) Bede, and other Martyrologists, style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, on the Vatican, and his relics still remain in that church.

Discover More About St. Mark with Journey with the Saints Much of what we know about St. Mark, the author of the Second Gospel, comes largely from the New Testament and early Christian traditions. Mark the Evangelist is believed to be the 'John Mark' referred to in the Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early Church found in the Canon of the New Testament. He was the son of Mary of Jerusalem (Acts 12:12) whose home became a meeting place for the apostles. He is also the cousin of St. ...

Franciscan Capuchin martyr. He was born Mark Rey is Sigmaringen, Germany, in 1577. A practicing lawyer, he traveled across Europe as a tutor to aristocrats but then started defending the poor. In 1612, he became a Franciscan Capuchin monk, taking the name of Fidelis. A missionary to Grisons, Switzerland, Fidelis was so successful that local Protestants claimed that he was a spy for the Austrian Emperor. Fidelis was stabbed to death in a church id Seewis. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XIV. ...