VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil. "More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Being pious is not squeezing one's eyes shut to the world and putting on a sweet little angel face, Pope Francis said. Piety is opening up one's heart to God and one's arms to embrace everyone as brothers and sisters, he said June 4 at his weekly general audience. "The gift of...
Read full story »

Q. What is the church's official position on the practice of the communicant's dipping the host into the chalice of precious blood before receiving Communion? It would seem like a good idea, especially if the communicant has a cold or other flu-like symptoms. I recently watched on EWTN a Mass at St...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Given the Holy Land's long and complex history of military, religious and cultural conflict, the run-up to Pope Francis' May 24-26 pilgrimage was inevitably marked by fears it would be marred by controversy -- or worse. Now that the pope's second international trip is over, so...
Read full story »

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Franciscan Sister Margaret Carney, president of St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York, wanted to believe a victim's father's outrage could make a difference after the May 23 shooting rampage near the University of California at Santa Barbara. The day after a 22-year-o...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on the world's Christians to pray with him for peace in the Middle East, help convince governments to come to the aid of refugees and pray for Christian unity. While peace is a gift from God, it is also built out of the day-to-day handiwork of individuals:...
Read full story »

Q. Why don't we see many healings today? I'm told that they were more numerous in the early church. (I read that the theologian Athanasius in the year A.D. 354 wrote, "We know bishops who still work signs.") Recently, I was watching on television when Pope Francis embraced and kissed what seemed to...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Polluting or destroying the environment is like telling God one does not like what he created and proclaimed to be good, Pope Francis said. The Bible says that after every stage of creation, God was pleased with what he had made, the pope said May 21 at his weekly general audi...
Read full story »

Q. At the church I attend, the priest has been telling the congregation (or having the lector tell us) that people do not fulfill their Sunday obligation if they leave Mass before the final blessing. Is there any documentation to validate that? I understand that priests don't like parishioners to l...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- On Pope Francis' first trip to the Holy Land, May 24-26, his agenda will focus on the search for Christian unity, particularly between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. But inevitably, in a region so rich in history and so fraught with conflict, he will address other urgent...
Read full story »