Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Study groups will revisit top synod topics

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  Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will be examined by study groups that will work beyond the synod’s final assembly in October. The possible revision of guidelines for the training of […]

Iconic basilica structure is readied for restoration

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Like a giant Tinkertoy construction, a skeletal tower of scaffolding slowly inched its way up the twisting bronze columns of the baldachin over the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. Workers on the ground picked through piles of shiny metal platforms, poles, clamps and couplers to […]

Webb telescope highlights God’s creation, scientists say

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Orbiting the sun nearly 1 million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is reshaping the way scientists understand the universe and its origins, a number of astronomers said at a Vatican-sponsored meeting last month. “The telescope is able to see things that prior telescopes […]

Changing formula in sacraments can make them invalid

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  By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said it continues to receive reports of Catholics, including priests, finding out all the sacraments they have received are invalid because they were baptized years earlier with a formula that was not approved. When a priest or […]

Love is the only path to Christian unity, Pope Francis says

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service ROME — Divided Christians will draw closer to one another only by loving God and loving their neighbors, serving one another and not pointing fingers in blame for past faults, Pope Francis said. Closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with an evening prayer service Jan. 25 at […]

Vatican optimistic about papal trip to Vietnam

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By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — A papal visit to Vietnam would send a very good message to the Asian region, said Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister. “There’s a few further steps to be taken before (a papal trip) would be appropriate,” he said, expressing optimism that such a […]

Vatican news agency reports 20 missionaries murdered in 2023

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  By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In its annual report on Catholic missionaries murdered during the year, the Vatican-based news agency, Fides, noted what many of them had in common was living a normal life in areas where violence had become common. “They did not carry out any sensational actions or […]

The pope’s 2023: Health challenges, travel, the synod

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis’ 2023 was a year of important trips made or postponed, a predecessor’s funeral and his own 10th anniversary as pope, a call to the world to act on climate change and a call to the Catholic Church to strengthen its mission by learning “synodality.” […]