Though Jesus preached in parables that still captivate us, not every story told in a homily has a similarly lasting impact. The Rev. Christopher Clohessy shares how preachers can craft stories that linger long after Mass is over.

“You do not have to believe in Marian apparitions to be a good Catholic,” Father James Martin writes. “But I do. I’ve never had a problem believing in them.”

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish its new norms for the discernment of apparitions and other supernatural phenomena May 17, the Vatican press office said.

“Human life is not a problem, it is a gift,” said Pope Francis at a meeting on Italy's longtime decline in births and population growth on May 10. “The problem is not how many of us there are in the world, but what kind of world we are building.”

A federal appeals court May 8 ruled in favor of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, protecting religious schools' freedom to hire schoolteachers who will uphold their religious beliefs.

Pope Francis today promulgated the decree, known as a “Bull of Indiction,” for the Jubilee Year 2025, which he will open in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2024, and close on Jan. 6, 2026.