World News
Pope sends Passover greetings, asks prayers for Holy Land trip
With the approaching of the start of Passover at sundown April 14, Pope Francis said he wanted to offer his "best wishes for peace" to Rome's chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni and the city's Jewish community.
Pope Francis drags human trafficking onto world stage
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio celebrated annual open-air Masses for and with victims of human trafficking, condemning the "great mafia of very elegant people" -- the traffickers and those who profit from the illegal trade -- whose "money is stained with blood." As pope, he now makes it a global issue and decries the world's indifference.
Indian sisters nurture hope, reconciliation in teeming South Sudan camp
JUBA, South Sudan (CNS) -- When South Sudan's fledgling democracy suddenly unraveled in December, what started as political infighting within the country's ruling party quickly ripped along ethnic fault lines, often pitting neighbors against each other according to the tribal markings on their faces.
Pope to pro-life activists: Defend the unborn, support pregnant women
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis said Christians must defend life at all stages, especially before birth, and he praised efforts to assist pregnant women in difficulty and prevent the destruction of human embryos.
Pope apologizes for clerical sex abuse, promises tough sanctions
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- "I feel called to take responsibility for all the evil some priests -- large in number, but not in proportion to the total -- have committed and to ask forgiveness for the damage they've done with the sexual abuse of children," Pope Francis said.
Christian groups concerned about police actions during Holy Week
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Palestinian Christian institutions charged that Israeli police security measures during Holy Week and Easter hamper access by Christian pilgrims to holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City.
Pope warns of danger of ideological dictatorships
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Idolizing one's own way of thinking and of interpreting reality closes God out of the equation and can lead to a "dictatorship of thought" that punishes anyone who disagrees, Pope Francis said.
Pope praises police-church network to stop trafficking, meets victims
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting four victims of human trafficking, dozens of religious sisters and senior police chiefs from 20 countries, Pope Francis praised their coordinated efforts to fight against a "crime against humanity."
Pope honors Jesuit killed in Syria, pleads for end to violence
UPDATED - VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis said the assassination of "my confrere," a 75-year-old Dutch Jesuit in Syria, "filled me with deep sadness and made me think again of all the people who suffer and are dying in that martyred country."
Memories of genocide drive Rwandans in rebuilding their nation
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Nathalie Piraino returns home to Rwanda, she sees a country advancing economically and politically. She also has found that memories from her homeland's genocidal bloodbath 20 years ago, which claimed as many as 1 million of Rwanda's 11.5 million people, remain vivid.