Pope Francis was a deacon. Indeed, we could say that every pope is a deacon. The deacon is the lowest of the three orders of the sacrament of Holy Orders, with priest being the second order and bishop being the highest order. When you are ordained a deacon, we...
Just before the beginning of Lent, I had the privileged opportunity to go to Rome for two weeks to attend an international conference on the diaconate and then participate in the Jubilee of Deacons. It was part of the yearlong Jubilee Year celebration, Pilgrims of...
Just before the start of Lent I was in Rome on a pilgrimage. One of the churches I visited was the Pontificio Santuario della Scala Santa. It is more commonly known as Scala Santa or, in English, the Holy Stairs. Tradition tells us the staircase in the church is from...