Pope calls new cardinals to be agents of unity
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Catholic Church's 17 new cardinals must dedicate their lives to being ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world – and sometimes a church – often marked by hostility and division, Pope Francis said on Nov. 19. Even Catholics...
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Proclaim Christ the king of mercy, pope says at end of Holy Year
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Following Christ the King, whose regal power is love and mercy, means the whole church and each Christian must "follow his way of tangible love," Pope Francis said. Celebrating the feast of Christ the King Nov. 20 and officially closing the extraordinary jubi...
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Monday, November 21, 2016
Voters reject nearly all ballot measures on issues of Catholic concern
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In this year's election, voters went against nearly all of the ballot initiatives backed by Catholic leaders and advocates, except the referendums on minimum wage increases and gun control measures. Voters passed an assisted suicide measure in Colorado and vot...
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Thursday, November 10, 2016
God's kingdom gives hope, not flashy entertainment, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The kingdom of God grows through hope and not by reducing it to a form of entertainment that produces a joy that appears and disappears in an instant, Pope Francis said. While many are tempted by "new things, revelations and messages," God has already spoken...
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Thursday, November 10, 2016
Top Vatican official congratulates Trump, offers prayers
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Congratulating Donald Trump for his victory in the U.S. presidential election, the Vatican secretary of state expressed hope that people would work together "to change the global situation, which is a situation of serious laceration, serious conflict." Cardin...
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Wednesday, November 09, 2016
Final resting place: Vatican releases instruction on burial, cremation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Professing belief in the resurrection of the dead and affirming that the human body is an essential part of a person's identity, the Catholic Church insists that the bodies of the deceased be treated with respect and laid to rest in a consecrated place. While...
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Walls aren't answer to people fleeing war, climate change, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Closing doors to immigrants and refugees is not the answer -- in fact, it only helps encourage the crime of human trafficking, Pope Francis said. "The only way for resolution is through solidarity," where everyone pitches in because "all together we are a pow...
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Can U.S. rejection of private prisons lead to similar move by states?
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In August, a federal Justice Department official issued a memo announcing the federal government must stop using privately run, for-profit prisons to house inmates. Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, in her Aug. 18 memo to the federal Bureau of Prisons, sa...
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Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Dialogue is expression of mercy, respect, love, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Dialogue is an essential component of mercy because it is the only way a husband and wife can understand each other, people of different religions can live in peace and the only way the Catholic Church can evaluate what is needed to promote the common good in the world, Pope F...
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Monday, October 24, 2016
Religious called to be prophets of communion, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Religious orders must harness the only power the matters: the power to communicate concretely the love and mercy of God, Pope Francis told members of the Augustinian Recollects. "We can respond to the needs of each person with the same love with which God has...
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Thursday, October 20, 2016