The Catholic Sun

The wounds of Christ, still visible after his resurrection, are the greatest sign of God's love and mercy, Pope Francis said on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Local photographer Joseph Pillado brought @PhoenixDiocese followers along on a Holy Thursday pilgrimage to pray with Jesus before seven altars of repose.

In their discussions about the life of the church and "synodality," or walking together, Catholics in United States and Canada noted the negative impact "polarization" is having on the church, said Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas.

The Vatican's chief prosecutor said Pope Francis has given him free rein to investigate the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican resident.

Sharing the Gospel requires literally "going out," witnessing to the joy of faith in person and not just sitting at home, being "keyboard warriors" who argue with others online, Pope Francis said.

The women disciples, who were the first to meet the risen Jesus, offer a lesson to all Christians: "We encounter Jesus by giving witness to him," Pope Francis said.

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."

Bishop John Dolan celebrated a joyous Easter Sunday Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, his first as bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix.

Nearly 30 people, one of the highest numbers for the parish in recent years, received their sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Ahwatukee on Saturday evening along with hundreds of other converts across the state.

Easter is the time "to roll away the stone of the tombs in which we often imprison our hope and to look with confidence to the future, for Christ is risen and has changed the direction of history," Pope Francis said as he celebrated the Easter Vigil Mass.