World News

Pope Francis will help launch worldwide prayers against hunger

The global "wave of prayer," supported by a video from the pope, will begin at noon Dec. 10 on the South Pacific island of Samoa and head west across the world's time zones. Local churches will pray for an end to hunger and malnutrition as well as to act on a local, national or global level against food waste. Nearly 1 billion people -- or about one in eight people -- experienced chronic hunger or undernourishment during 2010-2012, according to the international Catholic organizer of the event.

Ukrainian church leaders condemn police violence against protesters

KIEV, Ukraine (CNS) — The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and other Catholic leaders condemned police violence against “peaceful demonstrations” after President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision not to seek closer ties with the European Union. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, of Kiev-Halych, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, also spoke of preventing an “escalation of violence, […]

In conversations with parishioners, pope reveals he once was a bouncer

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In addition to having worked sweeping floors and running tests in a chemical laboratory as a teenager, Pope Francis revealed he also used to work as a bouncer. No longer kicking troublemakers out of clubs, he has discovered the secret to bringing people back, this time, into the church.

Best gift in life is encountering Christ, pope says at start of Advent

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The best present in life is encountering Jesus — an encounter that will last a lifetime, Pope Francis said. A Christian’s whole life “is an encounter with Jesus: in prayer, when we go to Mass, when we do good works, when we visit the sick, when we help the poor, when […]

Two priests murdered in Mexican rectory, victims of apparent robbery

Five suspects, including two minors, were arrested for the stabbing deaths of the parish pastor and vicar Nov. 29. "This assassination -- so violent; as Christians we see that it is nothing good, but we have to also forgive," said the region's archbishop.

In clearest statement to date, pope prays for victims of sex abuse

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In his clearest public reference as pope to the subject of clerical sex abuse, Pope Francis urged bishops to support abuse victims while also reaching out to priests who have "fallen short of their commitments."

Christians must work together to protect religious freedom, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis, in a message to Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, called for increased cooperation among Christians to protect religious freedom and the right to promote Christian values in society without discrimination. There is “an urgent need for effective and committed cooperation among Christians in order to safeguard everywhere the […]

Pope meet with Israel’s Netanyahu, discusses Middle East peace

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Dec. 2, and discussed prospects for peace in the Middle East and the pope’s still-unscheduled trip to the Holy Land. The two met privately for about 25 minutes in the pope’s library. A statement from the Vatican press office said the […]

Pope Francis declares 2015 dedicated to religious life

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During a three-hour meeting with 120 superiors general of men's religious orders, Pope Francis said the church would make consecrated life its focus in 2015. Consecrated men and women "can wake up the world," the pope said at a closed-door meeting during which he listened to the superiors and responded to their questions.

German bishops eye guidelines for divorced Catholics to take Communion

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country's bishops' conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope's endorsement.