Ever Googled, "Is this a sin?" 🤔 You’re not alone. Here are some of the most common questions Catholics ask!

ROME (CNS) -- With the city of Rome presenting a gauntlet of major roadworks and construction projects ahead of the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis used the disruptions as an opportunity to encourage people to do some spiritual renovation before the jubilee.

On a cloudy afternoon with the threat of rain Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis went to the center of Rome to continue the tradition of praying before a statue of Mary high atop a column near the Spanish Steps. 

At dawn that morning, Rome firefighters climbed nearly 90 feet using a truck and ladder to place a ring of white flowers on Mary's outstretched arm and bouquets at her feet, continuing a Roman tradition that began in 1949.

Pope Francis brought his own basket of white roses tied with a yellow and white Vatican ribbon, and, as is his custom, he recited a prayer to Mary rather than giving a speech to the thousands of Romans, visitors and tourists who joined him. 

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri was there. He has been dogged with criticism about how the major jubilee projects, most of which are still incomplete, have snarled traffic and disappointed tourists hoping to see sights now covered in scaffolding.

Pope Francis said Mary knows the work is causing "quite a few inconveniences, yet it is a sign that Rome is alive, renewing itself, trying to adapt to needs, to being more welcoming and more functional."

Speaking to Mary, he said her "mother's gaze" sees beyond the construction chaos. "And I seem to hear your voice that with wisdom tells us, 'My children, these works are fine, however, be careful: do not forget the worksites of the soul!"

"'The real Jubilee is not outside,'" he imagined her saying, "'it is inside: inside you, inside hearts, in family and social relationships. It is within that you must work to prepare the way for the coming Lord.'"

And, the pope added, "it's a good opportunity to make a good confession, to ask forgiveness for all our sins. God forgives everything. God forgives always."

Pope Francis thanked Mary for the suggestion "because, without wanting to, we risk being totally caught up in organizing, in all the things to be done," with the risk that "the grace of the Holy Year, which is a time of spiritual rebirth, of forgiveness and social liberation," can be stifled. 

He also asked people to pray for the mayor, "who has so much to do."

With the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," the pope plans to open the Holy Year at St. Peter's Basilica before Mass Dec. 24. He also will open a Holy Door at Rome's Rebibbia prison Dec. 26. The Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran will open Dec. 29; at the Basilica of St. Mary Major Jan. 1; and at St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 5.

Pope Francis thanked Mary "because still, in this time poor in hope, you give us Jesus, our hope!"

He also told Mary that "the flowers we offer you are meant to express our love and gratitude; but you especially see and appreciate those hidden flowers, which are the prayers, the sighs (and) the tears, especially of the little ones and the poor."

As the pope's car approached the Spanish Steps, a woman jumped the metal barrier along the street, sending security scrambling. Part of a group of women who want the pope to condemn bull fighting and have interrupted other services, she was apprehended immediately.

On this way back to the Vatican, Pope Francis stopped at Rome's new Museo del Corso in Palazzo Cipolla to see Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion, which is on exhibit there until Jan. 27. The Vatican press office said it is a work "particularly dear" to the pope.
 

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent. "As the journey of Advent continues, as we prepare to celebrate the nativity of Christ, John the Baptist's call to conversion sounds out in our communities. It is a pressing invitation to open our hearts and to welcome the Son of God Who comes among us to make divine judgement manifest. The Father, writes St. John the Evangelist, does not judge anyone, but has entrusted the power of judgement to the Son, because He is the Son of man.

"Pray for us, Holy Mother of God!"

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Becoming a cardinal is an insistent call to put Jesus at the center of one's life, to love the poor as he did and to strengthen the bonds of unity within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said as he created 21 new cardinals from 17 nations.

"To walk in the path of Jesus means, in the end, to be builders of communion and unity," the pope told the new cardinals during an afternoon consistory Dec. 7 in St. Peter's Basilica.

Cardinal Angelo Acerbi, a 99-year-old former Vatican diplomat, was the first to receive his red hat from Pope Francis. And Cardinal Domenico Battaglia of Naples, whom Pope Francis added to the list of new cardinals in November -- a month after announcing the others -- was the last.

Cardinal Francis Leo of Toronto was the only North American among the new cardinals. 

Pope Francis presided over the prayer service with a large bruise on the lower part of his right cheek and chin. He had fallen early Dec. 6, and photos from his audiences that morning showed him wearing a small bandage on his chin.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the pope had hit his chin on his bedside table.

The creation of cardinals took place within a prayer service, which included reading the Gospel of St. Mark's account of the Apostles James and John asking Jesus to "grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." 

The disciples' concern about earthly glory also can infect followers of Jesus today, the pope said. "Our hearts can go astray, allowing us to be dazzled by the allure of prestige, the seduction of power, by an overly human zeal for the Lord. That is why we need to look within, to stand before God in humility and before ourselves in sincerity, and ask: Where is my heart going? Where is it directed?"

"Among the disciples, the worm of competition was destroying unity, while the path that Jesus walked was leading him to Calvary" and the ultimate sacrifice, Pope Francis told the new cardinals and thousands of people -- including current members of the College of Cardinals -- who gathered to celebrate with them.

On the cross Jesus fulfilled his saving mission, the pope said, and he tore down "the dividing wall of hostility" so that "all might see themselves as children of the same Father and as brothers and sisters of one another."

"For this reason, the Lord is looking to you, who come from different backgrounds and cultures, and represent the catholicity of the church," the pope told them. "He is calling you to be witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity." 

In one reflection of the church's diversity and universality, four of the new cardinals were not wearing a red cassock with a white surplice, topped by a red cape. Instead, the two cardinals from Eastern Catholic churches -- Cardinals Mykola Bychok, a Ukrainian Greek Catholic, and George Jacob Koovakad, a Syro-Malabar Catholic -- wore vestments from their church traditions. And the two Dominicans -- Cardinals Timothy Radcliffe, a theologian, and Jean-Paul Vesco, archbishop of Algiers -- wore their white habits.

Pope Francis gave each of the new cardinals from the Latin-rite church a red zucchetto, a red biretta and a ring. Cardinals Bychok and Koovakad received special headdresses.

And echoing the practice centuries ago when the clergy of Rome elected the pope, the bishop of Rome, each of the new cardinals was assigned a title or "titular" church in the city, making them members of the diocese's clergy.

Pope Francis asked the cardinals to wear the cardinals' red as a reminder of their call to "be fearless witnesses to Christ and his Gospel in the city of Rome and in faraway regions.

During the consistory, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed in Latin and made an oath of fidelity to Pope Francis and his "canonically elected" successors.

With the consistory, the College of Cardinals reached 253 members, 140 of whom were under the age of 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. 

Speaking on behalf of the group, Cardinal Acerbi thanked Pope Francis and emphasized how the new cardinals were committed to strengthening the unity of the church and promoting peace at a time when, "unfortunately, the human family is disturbed and disfigured by inequalities, wars and poverty in many parts of the world."

In his homily, the pope told the new cardinals that the Lord was calling them to be "a radiant sign in the midst of a society obsessed with appearances and power" by not arguing over who is the greatest or who is right most often.

"Love one another with fraternal love and be servants to one another, servants of the Gospel," Pope Francis told them.

 

The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Ambrose (340-397), who was born at Treves in Gaul, a territory which embraced modern France, Britain, Spain, and part of Africa. He studied in Rome and later became governor of Liguria and Aemelia with residence at Milan. While supervising the election of a new bishop of Milan in 374, he himself was suddenly acclaimed the bishop. He was only a catechumen at the time and was ordained a priest and consecrated a bishop on December 7. He wrote much on the Scriptures and Fathers, preached a homily every Sunday, resisted the interference of the secular powers with the rights of the Church, opposed the heretics, and was instrumental in bringing about the conversion of St. Augustine. He composed many hymns, promoted sacred chant, and took a great interest in the Liturgy.

Advent is a time of joyful expectation!

"Prayer is powerful beyond limits when we turn to the Immaculata who is Queen even of God's heart."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Anyone interested in Catholic Church can now see a detailed, interactive breakdown of the body that will elect the next pope.

The Vatican launched a "dashboard" for the College of Cardinals Dec. 5, allowing users of the web page to see a comprehensive list of the church's cardinals and sort them by age, rank, country of origin, electoral status and religious order. Initially it was available only in Italian.

The dashboard, created with Microsoft Power BI -- an AI tool designed to visually organize data -- was published on the Vatican press office's public website just two days before Pope Francis was scheduled to create 21 new cardinals Dec. 7.

The page -- https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/documentation/cardinali---statistiche/dashboard-collegio-cardinalizio.html -- allows users to see a map of where current cardinals are from, as well as the percentage of cardinals from each region who are under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in conclave. As of Dec. 5, for example, 47.8% of cardinals from Europe are eligible to vote in a conclave while 100% of cardinals from Oceania are eligible electors.

Cardinals lose their right to vote in a conclave on their 80th birthday or when they lose the rights and privileges of a cardinal, as was the case with Cardinal Angelo Becciu, former prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, who was convicted by a Vatican court for financial malfeasance related to when he was substitute for the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Beyond age, rank and geographical distribution, users can also sort cardinals by precedence, which is based on the timing of their appointment as cardinals and their seniority within their rank and dictates matters such as seating arrangements and the order of liturgical processions. The College of Cardinals is divided into three ranks -- cardinal bishops, priests and deacons -- which reflect a cardinal's responsibilities or seniority within the church's hierarchy.

Previously, the Vatican website only offered separate lists of cardinals, organized alphabetically by name, by country, by age or grouped according to the pope who appointed them.

According to the Vatican statistics, which include the 21 soon-to-be cardinals, there are 253 members of the College of Cardinals, 140 of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave.

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas of Myra (d. 346). Not much is known about this 4th century bishop, but that doesn't diminish his popularity around the world, both in the East and West. It is known that Nicholas was born in Lycia in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and died in 352 A.D. as the Bishop of Myra. All the stories that surround Nicholas illustrate that he practiced both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. He was generous, strove to help the poor and disadvantaged, and worked tirelessly to defend the faith. His legends of generosity and a slip of the tongue from other languages has made St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas into today's Santa Claus.