Courtney Mares

A Synod on Synodality study group has recommended the creation of a new “Pontifical Commission for Digital Culture and New Technologies” in the first of 15 synod study group reports expected in the coming weeks.

The Vatican Museums announced that restoration work has begun on Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel, a fresco an art historian describes as "a clarion call to the cardinals of what it means to be Catholic."

Pope Leo XIV will travel to six countries over the next four months, including a 10-day tour of Africa and trips to Monaco and Spain, the Vatican announced Feb. 25.

Pope Leo XIV has urged priests to not to use artificial intelligence to write their homilies or to seek "likes" on social media platforms like TikTok.

For the first time in eight centuries, the mortal remains of St. Francis of Assisi are being exposed for an extended period of public veneration, drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world to pray before "the Little Poor Man of Assisi."

The Society of St. Pius X has rejected a Vatican offer of dialogue and said it will move forward with plans to ordain bishops without a papal mandate this summer.

Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome's oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate.

On Ash Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV urged Catholics to seek "the gift of true conversion" this Lent, calling for an intense spirit of prayer and a conversion of heart as the 40-day penitential season begins.

Four hundred years after its consecration, St. Peter's Basilica is getting a 21st-century upgrade, with the Vatican unveiling plans for AI-powered translation services, expanded pilgrim access and high-tech structural monitoring.

The ancient practice of fasting from food during Lent can free us from complacency and lead us to "hunger" for God, Pope Leo XIV said in his 2026 Lenten message.