Pope condemns 'blind violence,' offers prayers after Brussels attacks
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis, condemning the "blind violence" of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, offered his prayers to the victims, the injured, their families and all those offering assistance in the aftermath of the bombings. &#...
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Holy Week is memorial of God's infinite mercy, pope says at audience
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - God's love is limitless and the church's Holy Week services offer Christians a deeper understanding of his infinite mercy, Pope Francis said. The Easter Triduum is a memorial to a love story "that gives us the certainty that we will never be abandoned in life's trials," he sai...Read full story »
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Pope's Via Crucis: Cardinal writes prayers for all those who suffer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - When he told Pope Francis that writing the meditations for the papal Way of the Cross service was tough, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve said the pope told him, "Remember, you aren't doing it for me, but for the church." &#...Read full story »
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
'Laudato Si'' connects Catholic tradition, natural world and science
WASHINGTON (CNS) - For all the attention Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" has gained, little has been made of the connection among Catholic tradition, the natural world and science that the document addresses. Technology, creation and sacrament are key components...Read full story »
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Pope Francis will canonize Mother Teresa Sept. 4; also sets other sainthood dates
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will declare Blessed Teresa of Kolkata a saint at the Vatican on Sept. 4. The date was announced March 15 during an "ordinary public consistory," a meeting of the pope, cardinals a...Read full story »
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Funeral Mass for non-baptized? When to call a priest?
Q. I am a baptized Catholic who was married in a Catholic Church with a Mass. My husband and I raised all of our children Catholic, sent them to Catholic schools and have supported the church financially throughout our married life. My husband was never baptized in any faith. (His family considered...Read full story »
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Pope Francis: Closed doors, hearts cause suffering to innocent migrants
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Like the people of Israel in exile, migrants forced from their homeland due to war and persecution are often left to suffer because of closed hearts and doors, Pope Francis said. "In these cases one may ask, 'Where is God? How is it that so much suffering can come upon men, wo...Read full story »
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Pope Benedict: Yearning for mercy is sign of longing for God's love
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Although he lives a relatively hidden life in a villa in the Vatican Gardens, retired Pope Benedict XVI continues to study modern theological questions and, occasionally, to comment on them publicly. The attention Pope Francis and many Christians are giving to the theme of divi...Read full story »
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Boycotts, divestment, sanctions: private ways to change foreign policy
WASHINGTON (CNS) - In two cases in the past quarter-century, private means were used as a way to change U.S. foreign policy as well as the foreign country's behavior. In 1990, after a decade of intensifying private efforts in the United States and other countries to isolate South Africa economicall...Read full story »
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Pope Francis: Sin makes us blind, but Confession heals
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Exercise a little courage and go to Confession; turn away from selfishness and sin, and back to God during the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis urged people at a Lenten penance service. "When our desire to be h...Read full story »
Wednesday, March 09, 2016
