Vatican City, Dec 22, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of Rosario Livatino, a judge who was brutally killed by the mafia on his commute to work at a courthouse in Sicily thirty years ago.

The Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced Dec. 22 that the pope had approved a decree of Livatino’s martyrdom “in hatred of the faith,” paving the way for the judge’s beatification.

Vatican City, Dec 21, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis urged the Roman Curia Monday not to view the Church in terms of conflict, but to see the current “ecclesial crisis” as a call to renewal.

In his annual Christmas speech to the bishops and cardinals of the Roman Curia, the pope stressed that this Christmas marks a time of crisis for society and for the Church.

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican’s liturgy congregation issued a note Saturday encouraging Catholic parishes around the world to celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God with new vigor.

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2020 / 05:05 am (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed Friday a new bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

The pope named Msgr. Larry J. Kulick Dec. 18 as the sixth bishop of the diocese founded in 1951.

Kulick, a 54-year-old canon lawyer, has served as diocesan administrator since Sept. 15, when he was elected to the post by the diocese’s College of Consultors.