Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.

Articles by Courtney Mares

Flowers stand before Knock Shrine in Knock, Ireland, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025 Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Knock Shrine in Ireland draws pilgrims with confessions, healings, and message of hope

Aug 21, 2025 / 13:20 pm

“We have a very, very big outreach here in terms of confessions,” Father Richard Gibbons, who has led the shrine for more than a decade, told CNA.

Lebanese Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, the head of the Maronite Catholic Church, gives a homily during the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 9, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, patriarch says

Aug 20, 2025 / 09:30 am

Pope Leo XIV could visit Lebanon before the end of the year, the leader of the country’s Maronite Catholics, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï, said Tuesday.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

From AI to the White Sox: Pope Leo XIV’s first 100 days break new ground

Aug 16, 2025 / 04:00 am

Here are some of the highlights of the first 100 days of Pope Leo XIV.

“St. Dominic of Guzman” by Claudio Coello, circa 1685. Credit: Claudio Coello, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A dog, a torch, and a saint: The fiery mission of St. Dominic

Aug 8, 2025 / 04:00 am

St. Dominic’s divine fire still burns through preaching and prayer throughout the world.

A gentle cascade of white rose petals falls from the ceiling of the Basilica of St. Mary Major on Aug. 5, 2025, the feast of the dedication of the basilica, evoking “the miracle of the snow” said to have taken place nearly 17 centuries ago. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

PHOTOS: White rose petals fall from ceiling of Rome basilica to mark fourth-century miracle

Aug 5, 2025 / 11:23 am

According to tradition, the miracle involved a miraculous snowfall in Rome on Aug. 5 in the year 358.

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told a packed basilica of young jubilee pilgrims in Rome on Aug. 4, 2025, that holy relics are “not just a quirky Catholic thing — they are a quirky God thing.” Credit: Ivanka Ranic/Archdiocese of Sydney

Archbishop Fisher: Holy relics are not ‘just a quirky Catholic thing’

Aug 4, 2025 / 16:29 pm

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney delivered the homily at the closing Mass of the weeklong public veneration of Frassati’s body during the Jubilee of Youth.

Young Korean pilgrims gather for Mass during the Jubilee of Youth in the Basilica of San Crisogono in Trastevere offered by Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung on July 31, 2025. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Next World Youth Day to be historic first in non-Christian country, bishop says 

Aug 4, 2025 / 12:05 pm

Bishop Paul Kyung-sang Lee emphasized the significance of the upcoming 2027 World Youth Day event in South Korea during the recent Jubilee of Youth in Rome.

Fifty-four Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Young People, where they are approaching young people one by one to invite them to spend time with Christ in all-day Eucharistic adoration and to learn about the mission and message of their founder, St. Teresa of Calcutta. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

‘To give them Jesus’: Missionaries of Charity bring powerful witness to Jubilee of Youth 

Aug 1, 2025 / 07:30 am

More than 50 sisters of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity are in Rome this week for the Catholic Church’s Jubilee of Youth.

Several of the participants at the 2025 EWTN Summer Academy in Rome, an intensive program in religious journalism and digital storytelling, come from places where Catholics live their faith amid severe adversity. Credit: Lemmy Ogbonnaya Ijioma/EWTN Summer Academy

Jubilee of Youth: Meet the brave Catholic communicators who are telling their stories

Jul 31, 2025 / 07:00 am

Meet some of the bold Catholic communicators in training at the 2025 EWTN Summer Academy in Rome, which coincides with this year’s Jubilee of Youth.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presides over the Mass for the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers on July 29, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Cardinal Tagle at influencers jubilee: ‘Love cannot be generated by an algorithm’

Jul 29, 2025 / 13:52 pm

“You are not only influencers, you are also missionaries,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on July 29.

Blessed Carlo Acutis (left) and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Credit: Diocese of Assisi/Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Meet future saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati at the Jubilee of Youth

Jul 24, 2025 / 11:05 am

From July 28 to Aug. 3, Rome will be buzzing with musical performances, prayer vigils, and special events for young pilgrims from across the globe.

Bishop Robert Barron speaks to tens of thousands of young people at a World Youth Day gathering in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 2, 2023. The event, hosted by the U.S. bishops’ conference, culminated in a Eucharistic procession and Holy Hour. Credit: Nuria Chiccon/EWTN News

Bishop Barron to address U.S. pilgrims in Rome during Jubilee of Youth

Jul 21, 2025 / 12:44 pm

More than 3,500 young American pilgrims are expected at a special event in Rome on July 30 during the global Jubilee of Youth expected to draw 100,000 young people.

Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus address on July 13, 2025, from Liberty Square in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, where he is spending a two-week summer break. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV prays by name for Gaza parish strike victims, renews plea for ceasefire

Jul 20, 2025 / 08:46 am

“I express my profound sadness regarding last Thursday’s attack by the Israeli army on the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City,” Pope Leo XIV said Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV greets a young woman along the streets of Albano, Italy, before offering Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Pancras near Castel Gandolfo on July 20, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV: Summer is a time to savor prayerful moments with God

Jul 20, 2025 / 07:05 am

Pope Leo XIV, who is on summer holiday at the papal estate in Castel Gandolfo, encouraged people in his Sunday homily to embrace the summer season.

Photos of Pier Giorgio Frassati climbing in the Alps. The right photo shows him rappelling Rocca Sella on March 30, 1925. Credit: Associazione Pier Giorgio Frassati Torino

Catholic cliffhanger: Future saint was an avid mountain climber

Jul 16, 2025 / 08:45 am

The Catholic Church is preparing to canonize Pier Giorgio Frassati — a 24-year-old Italian from Turin, Italy, who was a skilled mountain climber and skier in the Alps.

Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke during the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, June 29, 2019. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope thanks Cardinal Burke, who clashed with Francis, for 50 years of priestly ministry

Jul 9, 2025 / 13:33 pm

The pope commended Burke’s pastoral witness, writing: “He has preached the precepts of the Gospel according to the heart of Christ and has recounted His treasures.” 

A new multimedia museum dedicated to the life of Pier Giorgio Frassati opened in Turin, Italy, on Juy 5, 2025, offering pilgrims and visitors an immersive look at the soon-to-be saint’s vibrant faith, political engagement, and Marian devotion. Credit: Archdiocese of Turin

New museum in Turin, Italy, honors soon-to-be saint Pier Giorgio Frassati

Jul 8, 2025 / 13:24 pm

Housed in the former rectory of the Church of Santa Maria di Piazza, the permanent exhibition, titled “Verso l’altro,” opened its doors on July 5.

A choir poses before an image of Pier Giorgio Frassati during a celebration of the centenary of his death, Turin, Italy, Friday, July 4, 2025. Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Italy marks 100 years since death of Pier Giorgio Frassati as canonization nears

Jul 5, 2025 / 13:00 pm

The three-day celebration of the centenary, dubbed “Frassati Days,” drew pilgrims from the United States, Poland, and Switzerland to the Piedmont region of Italy.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Secretary for Relations of States, and Laura Hochla, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, addressed the crowd at Villa Richardson on June 30, 2025, in Rome, where Fourth of July was celebrated this year with a special milestone: the recent election of the first pope born and raised in the United States. Credit: Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See

U.S. embassy in Rome honors first American-born pope as U.S.-Vatican diplomatic milestone

Jul 4, 2025 / 05:00 am

The U.S. embassy’s annual celebration, held June 30, commemorated the 41st anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Washington and the Holy See.

Newlyweds Anna and Cole Stevens meet Pope Leo XIV at the general audience in Rome on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Credit: Courtesy of Anna and Cole Stevens

Pope Leo XIV’s marriage advice? Keep calm and pray the rosary

Jul 2, 2025 / 10:00 am

Newlyweds Cole and Anna Stevens received Pope Leo XIV’s personal blessing for their marriage during one of the pope’s first general audiences on June 11.