VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Listen to the Holy Spirit because he is giving people the good news that God loves them and can renew, purify and transform their lives, Pope Francis said. The Holy Spirit is the living water that "quenches the thirst in our lives because he tells us that we are loved by God a...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis told 800 superiors of women's orders from around the world that the Catholic Church needs religious women and that religious women need to be in harmony with the faith and teachings of the church. "What would the church be without you?" the pope told the women May...
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  WASHINGTON (CNS) -- School-choice initiatives, akin to the quiet students in the back of a classroom, have kept a relatively low profile in recent years while steadily working their way to the front. The movement was given a big boost in late March when the Indiana Supreme Court upheld one o...
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  VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- One young man's dream of becoming a Swiss Guard began with a postage stamp.   Michael Odermatt said that when he was a small child, his godfather gave him a stamp depicting the ornately dressed papal soldier "and I was fascinated by that image and wanted to know ev...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- For the first time in history, the Vatican is home to a pope and a retired pope. Pope Francis welcomed his predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, to the Vatican May 2 outside the convent remodeled for the 86-year-old retired pontiff and five aides. Pope Francis and Pope Bened...
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Israeli President Shimon Peres hands a copy of the Scriptures in English and Hebrew to Pope Francis during a private meeting at the Vatican April 30. Peres officially invited the pope to Israel and left their meeting telling him, "I am expecting you in Jerusalem and not just me, but all the people...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Going to confession isn't like heading off to be tortured or punished, nor is it like going to the dry cleaners to get out a stain, Pope Francis said in a morning Mass homily. "It's an encounter with Jesus" who is patiently waiting "and takes us as we are," offering penitents...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Before ordaining 10 men to the priesthood, Pope Francis prayed privately with them in the sacristy and entrusted them to Mary's care. The private moment April 21 was a repeat of a practice he began as bishop before celebrating an ordination Mass, according to Vatican Radio. Th...
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WEST, Texas (CNS) -- The small town of West has been flooded with donations, disaster response teams, volunteers, news media and, perhaps most importantly, prayers since an explosion at a fertilizer plant the evening of April 17. The explosion killed 14 people and destroyed many of the homes within...
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BOSTON (CNS) -- Even though "the culture of death looms large" today, the light of Christ the Good Shepherd "can expel the darkness and illuminate for us a path that leads to life, to a civilization of solidarity and love," said Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley. "I hope that the events of this past...
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