XXIX CathoNav
About CathoNav and our sources
Who makes CathoNav, where every page comes from, and how we put mistakes right.
AI-generated image, directed by MZE
Who we are
CathoNav is an independent, non-commercial project by a Catholic layman in Sweden, designed and built by MZE. It has no advertising, sells nothing and follows no one around the web (see our privacy policy). It began with a simple wish: that a Catholic anywhere in the world could find a church, a shrine or a prayer in a few taps — and trust what they find.
What CathoNav is not
- It is not an official website of the Holy See, of a bishops’ conference, a diocese or a parish, and does not speak for them.
- Its pages have no imprimatur or other formal approval from Church authority. We check our work carefully against the Church’s own sources, but that is our own checking, not an ecclesiastical review.
- It does not replace your parish or a priest. For the sacraments, and for any question about your own situation, ask your parish priest.
Our rule
We only publish what we can trace to a Catholic source, and we name the source on the page. When teaching is concerned, the source is the Church herself: the Catechism, the Code of Canon Law and the documents of the Holy See. Where the Church has not given a judgement — on a private revelation, for example — we say so plainly rather than decide it ourselves. When sources differ, we follow the more authoritative one and say why.
Where it comes from
Teaching of the Church
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, the Enchiridion of Indulgences and the documents of the Popes — read on vatican.va, the website of the Holy See. Teaching pages give the paragraph or canon beside each point, so you can read the Church’s own words.
Every rule and teaching carries its reference.
Readings and the calendar
The readings at Mass from the USCCB; the feasts from the General Roman Calendar.
Some countries keep certain feasts on other days; your diocese’s calendar comes first.
Lives of the saints
The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) and the Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, in the public domain, through Wikisource and CCEL.
Older texts: some historical details may since have been revised; the source is named on each page.
Apparitions and miracles
For each place we state what the Church has said: approved by the Holy See or the local bishop, a nihil obstat, a long tradition without a formal judgement, or still under study.
A nihil obstat allows devotion; it does not declare the events supernatural (Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Norms of 17 May 2024, art. 22).
Churches on the map
314,299 churches from OpenStreetMap, the free map made by volunteers, with names and links from Wikidata.
A map entry can be missing, outdated or wrong. Basilicas and cathedrals are checked against GCatholic, the directory of the Catholic hierarchy.
Bishops and dioceses
Read live from Catholic-Hierarchy when you open a diocese.
Always as current as that directory.
Mass and Confession times
We do not keep Mass times ourselves: Near me now and the church pages take you to MassTimes and to the parish’s own website.
Times change, especially on feasts and in summer — confirm with the parish.
News and retreats
News from Vatican News; Emmaus retreats from the calendars gathered by Emmaus Sweden.
Each item links to its source.
Pictures
Photographs of real places come from Wikimedia Commons, each with its photographer and licence on our image credits page. The painted headers are AI-generated images, directed by MZE, and are marked as such on every page.
Found a mistake?
A wrong date, a church that is not Catholic or no longer exists, a missing shrine, a translation that could be better — please tell us, ideally with a link to the source. We read every message, check it against the source and correct the page. Churches on the map can also be corrected directly on OpenStreetMap; the change reaches CathoNav at the next update.
See also all pages · privacy · image credits.