Cardinals present in Rome hold their fourth General Congregation on Friday morning, as the papal liturgist explains that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be that of “a shepherd, not a sovereign.”

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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. Barnabas (Colossians 4:10), a Levite and a Cypriot. Mark ...

Our Editorial Director, Andrea Tornielli, reflects on the initiative for several people from the margins of society to welcome Pope Francis' mortal remains to their permanent resting place at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

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Correspondent Deborah Castellano Lubov reports amid the faithful queuing in St. Peter's Square to pay their respects to Pope Francis before his coffin will be sealed on Friday night. According to the Holy See Press Office, from 11 a.m. Wednesday through Thursday evening, at 7 p.m., more than 90,000 have paid their respects to the late Pope whose funeral will be Saturday, 26 April, in St. Peter's Square.

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Filipino Cardinal Louis Antonio Gokim Tagle leads the fourth recitation of the Rosary in memory of Pope Francis at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on Thursday evening, 24 April.

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A cry for peace and mercy for the world – this is what the great musical and religious event, Symphony of Mercy, will be about. It is scheduled to take place simultaneously on April 26 in Kraków, Rome, and five continents. The organisers received the blessing of the Holy Father already in February. Now, the Symphony will also serve as an act of thanksgiving for the pontificate of Pope Francis. "This will be a Symphony for you, our dear Holy Father Francis!" say the organisers.

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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. ...

It is uncertain when Saint George was born and historians continue to debate to this day. However, his death date is estimated to be April 23, 303 A.D. The first piece of evidence of George's existance appeared within the works of the Bollandists Daniel Papebroch, Jean Bolland, and Godfrey Henschen's Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca. George was one of several names listed in the historical text, and Pope Gelasius claimed George was one of the saints "whose names are justly reverenced among ...

Also called Hebed Jesus, a deacon in the Christian community of Persia who was caught up in the persecutions conducted by King Shapur II. Records indicate that Abdiesus was accompanied in his martyrdom by Abrosimus, Acepsimus, Azadanes, Azades, Bicor, Mareas, Milles, and a women named Tarbula. Some were Persian courtiers, others priests and bishops. Tarbula was the sister of St. Simeon, and suffered a particularly cruel death by sawing.

St. Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury and Confessor APRIL 21,A.D. 1109 IF the Norman conquerors stripped the English nation of its liberty, and many temporal advantages, it must be owned that by their valor they raised the reputation of its arms, and deprived their own country of its greatest men, both in church and state, with whom they adorned this kingdom: of which this great doctor, and his master, Lanfranc, are instances. St. Anselm was born of noble parents, at Aoust, in Piedmont, about the ...