Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Pope decides women will be voting members of synod

by

  By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — At least three dozen women will be voting members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October, Pope Francis has decided. In a decision formalized April 17, “the Holy Father approved the extension of participation in the synodal assembly to ‘non-bishops’ — priests, […]

True faith is open to others, Pope Francis repeatedly says in Hungary

by

  By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service BUDAPEST, Hungary — Praising the piety and charity of Hungarian Christians and their commitment to supporting traditional family life, Pope Francis said Christ also calls them to open their hearts — and perhaps their borders — to others in need. When it comes to the church or to […]

Exorcism is a hot topic for film, books this Eastertide

by

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Just as Catholics worldwide commemorated Jesus’ resurrection and his triumph of good over evil on Easter Sunday, theaters across the United States were preparing for the release April 14 of the latest “supernatural horror thriller” of good versus evil with “The Pope’s Exorcist.” And bookstores around […]

Vatican sends relic of the true cross to coronation of King Charles

by

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — As Britain’s King Charles III walks into Westminster Abbey for his coronation, he will walk behind a processional cross containing a relic of Christ’s cross given to the king by Pope Francis. While the Vatican provided no official details of the gift April 19, an official […]

Pope prays that Easter joy breaks through gloom of sin

by

          By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — On a bright spring morning, Pope Francis prayed that Christians would experience the joy of Easter and allow Christ’s resurrection to be “the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.” […]

Responding to Indigenous, Vatican disavows ‘doctrine of discovery’

by

  By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church formally “repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery,’” a Vatican statement said. Issued March 30 by the dicasteries for Culture and Education […]

Leaving the hospital, pope comforts couple whose daughter died

by

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service ROME — “I’m still alive,” Pope Francis joked to reporters who asked how he was doing as he left Rome’s Gemelli hospital April 1. The 86-year-old pope, who had been hospitalized since March 29 for treatment of bronchitis, stopped his car and got out to greet well-wishers and reporters […]

To be an apostle is to serve, not move up church’s hierarchy

by

POPE FRANCIS | GENERAL AUDIENCE By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Being an apostle does not mean climbing up the church’s hierarchy to look down on others but humbling oneself in a spirit of service, Pope Francis said. During his general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 15, the pope explained that […]

New asteroids named for ‘calendar’ pope, three Jesuit astronomers

by

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Three Jesuit astronomers and the 16th-century pope who commissioned the Gregorian calendar have recently been honored with having asteroids named after them. The new additions include: “562971 Johannhagen,” honoring Austrian Jesuit Father Johann Hagen, who was serving as director of the Georgetown University Observatory when Pope […]