Telling parents and godparents to teach their little ones to pray from the time they are small, Pope Francis baptized 13 babies in the Sistine Chapel as their older brothers and sisters looked on -- or got away and ran around.

VATICAN CITY -- Before baptizing 16 babies in the Sistine Chapel, Pope Francis reminded parents and godparents of their responsibility to care for and preserve the Christian identity the infants were about to receive.

A second diocese in Sicily, where the Mafia has had a significant presence for decades, announced a temporary ban on the naming of godparents for baptisms and confirmations.

Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 9 (Year C) Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 104; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

What if the lead story on the evening news were one of great joy and life-changing significance? Can we even imagine what it would be? And could we even handle it, conditioned as we are to bleak and depressing news? We might ask what the catch is, or even label it “fake news.”

VATICAN CITY -- The choral cries of newborn babies will not fill the Sistine Chapel in 2021 because the COVID-19 pandemic has forced Pope Francis to cancel his annual celebration of infant baptisms on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

MANCHESTER, England -- A Catholic priest has baptized the infant son of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

DETROIT -- The Archdiocese of Detroit is seeking to contact anyone who may have received invalid sacraments after a priest of the archdiocese learned his own baptism as an infant 30 years ago was invalid.

VATICAN CITY -- Changing the words of the formula for baptism render the sacrament invalid, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

QUEBEC CITY -- The great doorway to growing in the Christian faith is narrowing from year to year in Quebec as baptisms have significantly declined since 2012 and there’s no indication the trend will reverse.

VATICAN – Faith isn't something learned just by studying the catechism but rather is a gift passed on to children by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said.

Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 13 (Year C) Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 104; Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

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VATICAN – All Christians are called to be missionaries, concerned more with sharing the Gospel than with earning money or even with being successful at winning converts, Pope Francis said.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Former Irish President Mary McAleese has said that the baptism of infants is a form of coercion, calling on the Catholic Church to change its practice.

VATICAN – The baptismal font is a tomb in which a person dies to sin, and it is a womb through which a person is born to new life in Christ, Pope Francis said.

ROME – Sharing the Gospel means being a witness to love, responding to questions and patiently walking alongside people, not dictating how and when they take the next step, Pope Francis told members of the Neocatechumenal Way.