World News

Europe needs Christians to speak with one voice, pope says

Only "looking together toward the Lord Jesus Christ," he said, will Christians "find common responses to the questions modern society is asking us."

Cardinal visits northern Iraq to convey pope’s concern for displaced

The head of the Vatican's Congregation for Eastern Churches visited Iraq to convey Pope Francis' blessing and concern for church officials and the displaced living and working in difficult circumstances.

In person or with radio, Italian nun accompanies South Sudan’s displaced

When the shooting stops, it's eerily silent in Malakal. The quarter million people who once lived here have dispersed to other cities or countries, or to the nearby U.N. base where they live behind barbed wire and heavily armed blue-helmeted soldiers, or to simply living in the bush, trying to stay out of the path of the several armed groups ravaging the countryside.

Not enough to love Francis, must live his teachings, says archbishop

Wake up and take action; Pope Francis makes this call in "The Joy of the Gospel," but it seems people "are still sleeping, caught up in a million secondary things," said Archbishop Victor Fernandez.

Pope signs decrees in causes for Blessed Serra, married couple, martyrs

The decrees included recognition of the martyrdom of Oblate Father Mario Borzaga and Paul Thoj Xyooj, a lay catechist, killed by communist fighters in Laos in 1960. In addition, Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Sergio and Domenica Bernardini, an Italian married couple who raised 10 children.

U.S. priest lives with ‘suffering Christ’ at U.N. base in South Sudan

Behind the blue-helmeted U.N. soldiers ringing the periphery, their tanks and heavy weapons pointed outward, Maryknoll Father Mike Bassano's parish is a tightly packed maze of tents and tarpaulins filled with people hiding from war.

Pope Francis to meet Raul Castro ahead of Cuba visit

The meeting between the pope and Castro will take place "in a strictly private manner" in the study of the Paul VI audience hall, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said May 5.

Pope: Marriage is brave promise to love like Jesus, not showy ceremony

Marriage is an act of faith between a man and woman who are both fragile and limited, but courageous enough to follow Christ and seek to love each other as he loves them, the pope said May 6 during his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Jordan faces shortfall in aid to support 1.4 million Syrian refugees

With no end in sight to the Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year, officials are calling the situation critical. So far this year, Jordan has received only 7.2 percent of $2.9 billion needed for services to Syrian refugees and host communities.

Archbishop cites Olympic champion, says migrants should not be feared

Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, vice president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, held up Mo Farah as an example of why migrants should not be feared, saying his life was a "wonderful story of optimism and hope."