World News
Poles welcome native son’s sainthood
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A larger-than-life model of Blessed John Paul II as a younger man reaches out from the top of the exterior steps that ascend to All Saints Church, Warsaw's largest church.
Pope assures Rome priests that ‘sanctity is stronger than scandals’
ROME (CNS) -- Acting in his capacity as bishop of Rome, Pope Francis offered words of encouragement to his diocesan priests, assuring them that recent and current scandals cannot overcome the church's holiness and urging them to keep their vocations alive through love of God.
Bishops urge all Cubans to live in hope for a better future
HAVANA (CNS) -- In response to the "aspirations, the hopes and the frustrations of the children of God" the bishops of Cuba urged Cubans to embrace a vision for better future for their country.
Priest injured in latest acid attack in Zanzibar
ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (CNS) -- A priest was hospitalized on the island of Zanzibar after acid was thrown at him, police said. The Sept. 13 attack left Father Joseph Mwaganbwa with injuries to his face, chest, thighs and legs, the Associate Press reported.
German diocese promises ‘transparency’ after claims of extravagance
OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Germany's Limburg Diocese pledged "dialogue and transparency" after a former Vatican nuncio was sent to defuse complaints of extravagance against Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst.
Church shows mercy by upholding truth about marriage, speakers say
ROME (CNS) -- Pope Francis recently made remarks about the need for a stronger pastoral approach to marriage and divorced couples. But the comments do not signal the church is overturning its laws or practice of denying communion to Catholics who divorce and remarry, said two canon law experts.
Under Pope Francis, liberation theology comes of age
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' Sept. 11 meeting with Dominican Father Gustavo Gutierrez was an informal one, held in the in the pope's residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, and not listed on his official schedule. Yet the news that Pope Francis had received the 85-year old Peruvian priest, who is widely considered the father of liberation theology, has excited interest far beyond the Vatican's walls.
Pope Francis says cold calling people is ‘not news’
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Picking up the telephone and calling people out of the blue is no big deal for Pope Francis, according to a Vatican official. Msgr. Dario Vigano, director of the Vatican Television Center, said the pope told him that the many calls the journalists have brought to light are just the tip of the iceberg: "Good thing they don't know about all the ones I have made!" the pope reportedly said. "That's the way I am; I've always done this."
Pope Francis celebrates the church as loving ‘mamma’
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis gave pilgrims attending his weekly public audience Sept. 11 what he called a "homework assignment" to find out the date they were baptized and celebrate it every year.
New book: Pope ran clandestine network to save suspected dissidents
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While a military-backed dictatorship in Argentina was conducting a clandestine war on suspected dissidents, then-Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future pope, masterminded a secret strategy to save those being targeted, according to a new book.