World News

Bishops to support Filipino workers affected by falling oil prices

The bishops said they would intensify their pastoral programs for overseas Filipino workers, "reaching out to them through chaplains and to their families through the parishes," said Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga.

In Mexico, pope urges smart laws, personal commitment to stronger families

Pope Francis said he preferred "a wounded family that makes daily efforts to put love into play" over a society that is "sick from isolationism" and "afraid of love." He spoke Feb. 15 to a boisterous audience of families southern Mexico and Guatemala.

At El Paso church, people pray day and night for pope in Mexico

"Every day since the pope arrived in Mexico, in the morning and evening, we pray the rosary for his intentions -- for mercy, peace and for his protection," said Raquel Garay Williams, a member of the parish council.

‘Tatic Francis’ affirms Mexico’s indigenous people in visit to Chiapas

"You have much to teach us," he told the elders, activists and simple faithful gathered at a sports complex in San Cristobal de Las Casas, a city in Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state, and a center of advocacy and struggle for the indigenous rights.

In crime-plagued Mexican periphery, pope preaches conversion

Pope Francis began his travels to Mexico by visiting an overcrowded, sprawling settlement known internationally as a hunting ground for girls to force into prostitution and for boys to enlist in the drug trade.

At children’s hospital, pope prescribes ‘kindness therapy’

The pope arrived ahead of schedule to the Federico Gomez children's hospital in Mexico City after a visit to Ecatepec, just north of Mexico City. First lady Angelica Rivera and 38 young cancer patients welcomed him to the hospital's oncology ward.

Pope Francis tells Mexican bishops to speak out on tough issues

Pope Francis demanded forceful denunciations of drug violence in Mexico from the country's bishops, who have made timid statements on a tragedy that has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past 10 years.

Pope makes long-awaited visit to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico

Laying a bouquet of yellow roses in front of the image, Pope Francis sat in prayerful silence with eyes closed and head bowed. After roughly 20 minutes, the pope stood up, laid his hand on the image then spoke to 12,000 people in the basilica, with another 30,000 watching on screens outside.

A brotherly embrace brings pope and Russian patriarch together

"Finally," Pope Francis told Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill Feb. 12 as they met in a lounge at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. "We are brothers," he told the patriarch, who replied, "Things are easier now."

No change to church guidelines on sexual abuse, Vatican says

UPDATED - A spokesman said a French priest's report for new bishops had been misinterpreted by media, and the Vatican's guidelines for bishops to cooperate with civil authorities -- also the U.S. bishops' policy -- remain in force.