World & Nation

Pope St. John Paul II speaks during World Youth Day 1993 in Denver. (Photo by James Baca/Denver Catholic Register) When he was elected Bishop of Rome on October 16, 1978, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła had a rather limited experience of the Catholic Church in the United States. He had met American churchmen at the Second Vatican Council, and a few of them visited Poland in the ensuing years. The Cracovian cardinal had made two visits to the United States, one during the national bicentennial in 1976,...

As America marks 250 years, these saints and holy witnesses show how God has raised up Catholics to educate, serve, evangelize and strengthen the Church in the United States. (Photo: Denver Catholic design) Editor's Note: As we zoom in on our country's 250 years, we see the many saints and witnesses that God has raised up to build up his Kingdom here on earth. These souls shine for their courageous preaching of the Gospel, their prayerful devotion, their love for the poor and their pursuit of...

The story of America and Colorado is ultimately a story of God’s faithfulness, mercy and invitation to holiness. (Photo: Adobe Stock) Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made Heaven and earth. That formula for an apostolic blessing, a benediction that bishops give, has a lot to teach us as we reflect on our country’s last 250 years and our state’s last 150 — years marked by courage, sacrifice and perseverance — and as we look forward to...

A worldwide rosary, coordinated by the Dicastery for Evangelization, will be prayed at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens on May 30. A pilgrim prays the rosary at a Marian vigil in St. Peter’s Square, Rome, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News) By Madalaine Elhabbal/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV is inviting Catholics around the world to join him in praying a rosary for peace on May 30. The Holy Father is set to pray the rosary live from the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican...

The defeat of an "assisted dying" bill in the United Kingdom is a welcome win for the culture of life. (Photo: Unsplash) Good news not being thick on the ground these days, I’m delighted to note some very good news from the mother country: on April 24, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill failed to gain passage in the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, thus ending, for now, the efforts to legalize assisted suicide in England and Wales. A month earlier, the Scottish Parliament, by a vote...

Pope Leo XIV smiles as he greets a child dressed as the pope from the popemobile while riding around St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before his weekly general audience March 11, 2026. (Photo: CNS/Lola Gomez) “All roads lead to Rome.” This proverbial saying from the ancient empire remained true even as Jesus’ disciples made their way across the world. The Eternal City, the capital of one of the world’s greatest empires, has served as the center of Christ’s Church for two thousand years,...

(Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Denver Office of Catholic Schools) Before joining what once imagined itself the world’s greatest deliberative body, U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) was a decorated naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut with four space shuttle missions to his credit. Now, like approximately 80% of his senatorial colleagues, Senator Kelly looks in the mirror in the morning and sees a future president. Before he takes the plunge, however, I hope Senator Kelly...

(Photo: Vatican Media) Imagine for a moment you were made a bishop by Pope Francis in 2015. Now imagine you were made a cardinal just two years ago in 2023. Now imagine your boss, Pope Francis, just recently passed, so you’re quickly ushered to the Vatican to help elect the next pope. You’re thinking there’s no possible way you’ll be elected. You haven’t been around all that long. You’re just a simple missionary priest at heart. You’re also an American, for crying out loud. Now imagine your...

A recent pilgrimage sponsored by the Mother Cabrini Shrine gave local Catholics the opportunity to encounter the beloved saint whose legacy continues to shape Colorado ahead of the 80th anniversary of her canonization. The Colorado pilgrims visited Casa Cabrini when they arrived in Rome, meeting with leadership of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, Mother Cabrini's order, and coming to know the great saint more deeply. (Photo courtesy of Mother Cabrini Shrine) It’s no secret that...

St. George's Cathedral in Lviv, Ukraine. During the 19th and 20th centuries, St. George served as the mother church of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. (Photo: Haidamac, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons) Pardon the Latin-rooted neologism, but if “patricide” works for murdering your father and “regicide” for taking out a king, why not “ecclesiacide” for trying to kill an entire Church? That’s what happened some eighty years ago, on March 8-10, 1946, at St. George’s Cathedral in L’viv,...

On the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, we remember the late pontiff and some of the most significant moments of his papacy. Pope Francis during a general audience. (Photo by Daniel Ibáñez/CNA) By Francesca Pollio Fenton/EWTN News On April 21, 2025, the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled for Pope Francis, marking the end of his life and his 12-year papacy. As the 265th successor of St. Peter, the Argentinian pontiff left a lasting impact on the Catholic Church. Here are nine...

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, have taken issue with the pope’s Gospel teaching on peace. Vice President of the United States J. D. Vance speaking with attendees at the 2025 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons) The U.S. bishops’ chair for doctrine issued a clarification on April 15 reaffirming that Catholic just war theory sets strict moral limits on the use of military...