World News
Clericalism: The culture that enables abuse and insists on hiding it
Pope Francis has targeted clericalism as an illness in the church that pretends "the church" means "priests and bishops," that minimizes the talents of laypeople and that emphasizes the authority of clerics over their obligation of service.
Pope says he’s excited to return to Ireland to celebrate families
UPDATED - Pope Francis said he hoped his visit would "remind us all of the essential place of the family in the life of society and in the building of a better future for today's young people."
Slovak teen to be beatified as martyr to purity
A 16-year-old peasant girl will be beatified as a martyr in Slovakia, seven decades after she was shot in front of her family for resisting rape by a drunken Soviet soldier.
Pope says he sees continuity, not rupture in ‘Amoris Laetitia’
Pope Francis said the exhortation "cannot be considered a 'vademecum' (handbook) on different issues. If the exhortation is not read in its entirety and in the order it is written, it will either not be understood or it will be distorted."
Vatican confirms pope will meet abuse survivors in Ireland
Pope Francis will meet survivors of sexual abuse during his trip to Ireland Aug. 25-26, but it will be up to the survivors to decide whether any information about the meeting will be released.
Indian church joins relief efforts as floods wreak havoc in Kerala
All 41 Catholic dioceses in the southern state have opened schools and other institutions to accommodate flood victims and are cooperating to send food, clothes and other relief materials to affected areas.
‘We didn’t have food,’ say Venezuelan families at Colombian shelter
With the International Monetary Fund predicting the inflation rate will top 1 million percent this year, the monthly minimum wage will not buy enough flour for a batch of arepas, the corn bread that is a Venezuelan staple.
Eucharist is a taste of heaven on earth, pope says
By receiving the Eucharist at Mass, Christians are given Christ's same spirit and a taste of eternal life, Pope Francis said Aug. 19 during the Angelus.
Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to the People of God
With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives, writes Pope Francis.
Carta del Papa Francisco al Pueblo de Dios
Con vergüenza y arrepentimiento, como comunidad eclesial, asumimos que no supimos estar donde teníamos que estar, que no actuamos a tiempo reconociendo la magnitud y la gravedad del daño que se estaba causando en tantas vidas, escribe Papa Francisco.