VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians must rely more on the Holy Spirit than on their own plans and strategies if they hope to fulfill their mission to share the good news of God's love and of salvation in Christ, Pope Francis said. The pope began his weekly general audience Dec. 6 explaining to the crowd that he once again asked […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Advent call for "vigilance" does not mean staying awake and watchful out of fear, but rather out of a longing for the coming of the Lord, Pope Francis wrote. Sometimes people think of vigilance "as an attitude motivated by fear of impending doom, as if a meteorite were about to plunge from the sky," he […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world needs people to build alliances that are not against others, but are in favor of everyone, Pope Francis told faith leaders at the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. "It is important that religions, without falling into the trap of syncretism, set a good example by working together: not […]

WASHINGTON – During their recently-concluded committee and subcommittee meetings in Baltimore, programs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) awarded over $10 million given by supporters to its national collections to support pastoral and social ministries in the United States and in three regions overseas where the Church is desperately poor, persecuted or too small to support its […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The future of humanity depends on what people choose now, Pope Francis said in his message to global leaders at the World Climate Action Summit of the U.N. Climate Change Conference. "Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death?" he asked in his message. "To all of you I make this […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (CNS) — The Catholic Church cannot measure people's engagement with religion only by looking at church attendance, but also must observe how they express religious sentiments outside of church — even on their own bodies, a Jesuit priest said. "It's important to understand tattoos in order to understand one of the many ways in which people practice religion," […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Asking pardon for speaking plainly, Pope Francis told members of the International Theological Commission that "one of the great sins we have had is 'masculinizing' the church," which also can be seen by the fact that only five of the commission members are women. The pope, who appoints the 28 members of the commission, said the […]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a soft and raspy voice, Pope Francis began his weekly general audience by making the sign of the cross and explaining that "I'm still not well with this flu, and my voice isn't great," so he would have an aide read his catechesis and greetings. The gathering, in the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall Nov. […]

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (CNS) — Theologians, social scientists, historians and artists, including an Indigenous Mexican rapper, met in Bogotá to discuss how religion is represented in popular culture today.  Pope Francis "says that new theology cannot be a dialogue between theologians because that is self-referential, rather it must be an interdisciplinary dialogue," Emilce Cuda, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin […]

WASHINGTON – The United Nations will convene their annual meeting on climate, COP28, on November 30. In advance of the meeting, Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, chairman […]