Category: religion

Pope Francis on the first papal visit ever to the French island of Corsica on Sunday called for a dynamic form of laicism, promoting the kind of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civic society.

Notre Dame Cathedral, its air thick with the smell of incense, on Sunday hosted its first Mass since the catastrophic fire of 2019, a moment that transcends religious significance to become a powerful symbol of Paris’ resilience.

After more than five years of frenetic, but sometimes interrupted, reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.