Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.

Cardinal Antonios Naguib (1935-2022). Screenshot from Rome Reports in English YouTube channel.

Pope Francis Mourns Egyptian Cardinal Whose Life was Marked by "faith and priestly zeal"

Cardinal Antonios Naguib died in Cairo at the age of 87.

Pope Francis celebrates Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, April 14, 2019. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis’ Schedule for Holy Week Unveiled, to Preside Over Liturgies in Public

The pope will once again preside over the Via Crucis at the Colosseum on Good Friday.

St. Joseph and the Christ Child, by Guido Reni. Public domain

Follow St. Joseph's Example, Pope Francis Tells Priests of a Religious Institute

Pope Francis has written a letter to the Congregation of Saint Joseph.

Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 22, 2016. Credit: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk. null

How Praedicate Evangelium Changes the Vatican’s Dicasteries: A CNA Explainer

Pope Francis has promulgated a new apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium, which reforms the structure of the Roman Curia. Here are...

Pope Francis prays for children in Ukraine, March 16, 2022. Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Pope Francis: After a Nuclear War, Humanity Would Have to "start from scratch"

The pope was speaking on the 21st day of the war in Ukraine.

Pope Francis at the general audience in Paul VI Hall on March 2, 2022. Vatican Media.

Lent is a Time for Conversion, Interior Renewal: Pope Francis on Ash Wednesday

The pope was speaking at his Wednesday general audience.

Hackers Interrupt Catholic Charity’s Online Press Conference on Ukraine

Speakers were drowned out by a stream of obscenities.

An explosion in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Feb. 24, 2022. Giovanni Cancemi/Shutterstock.

Catholic Priest in Ukraine Shares How Caritas is Helping Children Find Shelter

‘In my house, we have 37 people,’ Father Vyacheslav Grynevych said.

Pope Francis during his general audience in Paul VI Hall on January 26, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Addiction to Digital Media Can Hurt Human Relationships: Pope Francis’ Lenten Message

"May the corporal fasting to which Lent calls us fortify our spirit for the battle against sin,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis’ general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Feb. 23, 2022. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis decries excessive ‘exaltation of youth’ as he begins new catechesis series

He said that idealized youth was ‘the dominant image of 20th-century totalitarianism.’

Pope Francis met with members of Voir Ensemble, a Christian movement of blind and visually impaired people on Feb. 19, 2022. Vatican Media

Pope Francis Meets Christian Movement of Blind and Visually Impaired People

The French association, Voir Ensemble (Seeing Together), was founded in 1927 by Father Yves Mollat, a blind Jesuit priest.

Pope Francis prays at the general audience in Paul VI Hall on Feb. 16, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Prays for Cyclone Victims in Madagascar

The pope sent a telegram to Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina on Feb. 19 as the island in the Indian Ocean...

Pope Francis meets participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Feb. 18, 2022. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis Says Eastern Catholic Churches Have Shown Heroic Faith amid Miseries of War

The pope lamented that John Paul II’s appeal to avoid conflict in Iraq went unheeded

Pope Francis meets with Diakonia of Beauty, a group dedicated to celebrating sacred art, on Feb. 17, 2022. Vatican Media.

"The world needs beauty more than ever": Pope Francis

The pope met with a French Catholic group dedicated to supporting artists and celebrating sacred art, architecture, poetry, and music.

Pope Francis’ general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Feb. 9, 2022. Vatican Media.

Pope Francis Seeks "healthy decentralization" with New Changes to Canon Law

Pope Francis signed the motu proprio on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Human Trafficking has Created "an open wound on the body of Christ": Pope Francis

His remark came on the International Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking.

Pope Francis meets religious sisters at a general audience on Jan. 19, 2022. Vatican Media

Pope Francis Tells Religious Sisters to Fight Back When Mistreated by "men of the Church"

The pope's prayer intention for the month of February is for religious sisters and consecrated women.

Children participating in a Catholic Action initiative helped to release colorful balloons at the end of the Angelus on Jan. 30, 2022. Vatican Media

"The Lord always surprises us": Pope Francis

Pope Francis encouraged people to be open to the newness Jesus wants to bring in their daily lives and to...

Pope Francis meets members of the Catholic Factchecking consortium at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Jan. 28, 2022. Vatican Media.

Being "properly informed" on COVID-19 Vaccines is a "human right": Pope Francis

‘Fake news has to be refuted, but individual persons must always be respected,’ he told a Catholic fact-checking group.

Pope Francis Honors Newly Beatified El Salvador Martyrs for their "heroic example"

Father Cosme Spessotto, Father Rutilio Grande, and two lay companions were declared blessed.