Rituals of purification or moral cleansing are common in many religious traditions. For example, ritual washing before prayer, public worship, (re)inclusion, or other religious activities is present ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments and individuals to operate as if every day brings with it a new contingency plan. The Catholic Church is no different, in a sense, at least when it comes ...

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, has said that the coronavirus pandemic may justify the use of general absolution, in extraordinary circumstances, for Catholics unable to ...

VATICAN CITY — Calling for a “vigorous revitalization of the sacrament of reconciliation,” Pope John Paul II issued a new apostolic letter aimed at eliminating abuses of general absolution which he ...

This autumn, a Swiss Catholic church installed an AI Jesus in a confessional to interact with visitors. The installation was a two-month project in religion, technology and art titled "Deus in Machina ...

The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica is seen through trees in the Vatican Gardens. (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.) Listen ROME — In places particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and with severe ...

Having just been ordained last May, the Rev. Corey Bassett-Tirrell has been looking forward to celebrating his first Lenten season as a priest at Chelmsford Catholic Collaborative, home of the St.

Although the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, a Rome neighborhood, is open March 18, 2020, the confessionals are empty because they do not allow the priest and penitent to stay 3 feet apart.

The Australian bishops have provided the federal government with the Holy See's observations on 12 recommendations of a 2017 report on child sex abuse in the country's institutions. In response to a ...

Kate Douglas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Visitors were invited to pose questions to the AI Jesus, viewed on a monitor behind a latticework screen. (Courtesy of the Catholic Church of the City of Lucerne, CC BY) This autumn, a Swiss Catholic ...