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Father Burke Masters, Chicago Cubs' chaplain, takes part in a practice with players during spring training in March 2016 at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. Cubs Manager Joe Maddon invited Father Masters to practice with the team.

Cubs chaplain cares for ‘spiritual needs’ of players

CHICAGO – When Fr. Burke Masters accepted God’s call to become a priest, he thought he was giving up baseball forever.

Pope Francis answers questions from journalists aboard his flight from Malmo, Sweden, to Rome Nov. 1. The Pope said that the Church's teaching to never ordain women is likely to last forever.

Catholic Church never likely to ordain women, Pope says

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SWEDEN – The Catholic Church insistence that it cannot ordain women to the priesthood and episcopacy is a teaching likely to last forever, Pope Francis said.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, right, speaks as the Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, looks on during a news conference at the Vatican Oct. 26. During Pope Francis’ trip to Sweden, the cardinal was asked about the possibility of Catholics and Lutherans receiving Communion together.

Vatican cardinal explains limits of eucharistic sharing

MALMO, Sweden – The Catholic Church continues to insist that sharing the sacrament of Communion will be a sign that Christian churches have reconciled fully with one another, although in some pastoral situations, guests may be invited to the Eucharist, said Cardinal Kurt Koch.

Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec, pictured at the Vatican in 2014, was named to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, along with a number of others, Oct. 28.

Pope names Lacroix a new member of worship congregation, among others

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis renewed the membership of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments by naming new members, including Canadian Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec and Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey.

A statue of Martin Luther is seen onstage as Pope Francis arrives for an audience with a pilgrimage of Catholics and Lutherans from Germany in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Oct. 13. The pope will visit Sweden Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Ecumenical papal trip: Touching the Christian heart of secular Sweden

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis' recent insistence on "walking ecumenism," the notion that Christians will draw closer to each other as they work together to help the poor, should resonate well with Lutherans and Catholics in Sweden.

Martin Luther, a German monk and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, is depicted in this painting at a church in Helsingor, Denmark. Pope Francis will visit Sweden Oct. 31-Nov. 1 for commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Sorrow and joy: Marking the Reformation with honesty about the past

VATICAN CITY – As Catholics and Lutherans prepare to mark the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation, Pope Francis said they should feel "pain for the division that still exists among us, but also joy for the brotherhood we have already rediscovered."

The Rev. Martin Junge, general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, speaks at a Vatican news conference Oct. 26. Rev. Junge says the Pope celebrating Mass with Swedish Catholics the day after Reformation anniversary events shows that the churches are not yet united.

Ecumenical papal trip also will show pain of division, Lutheran says

VATICAN CITY – The extension of Pope Francis' trip to Sweden by one day to accommodate a papal Mass for the nations' Catholics does not detract from the ecumenical power of the trip, but actually highlights the need for Christian unity, said the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.

Pope Francis said during during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Oct. 26 that closing doors to migrants and refugees is not the answer.

Walls aren't answer to people fleeing war, climate change, Pope says

VATICAN CITY – Closing doors to immigrants and refugees is not the answer – in fact, it only helps encourage the crime of human trafficking, Pope Francis said.

CPJ executive director Joe Gunn moderated a panel of faith leaders at a conference on ending poverty at Saint Paul University Oct. 20.

Faith communities are integral to healing poverty

OTTAWA – Faith communities are an integral component in the struggle to overcome poverty, faith leaders told a conference on the subject.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks at a Vatican news conference Oct. 25. Cardinal Muller said that while the Catholic Church continues to prefer burial in the ground, it accepts cremation as an option, but forbids the scattering of ashes or keeping cremated remains at home.

Vatican releases instruction on burial, cremation

VATICAN CITY – Professing belief in the resurrection of the dead and affirming that the human body is an essential part of a person's identity, the Catholic Church insists that the bodies of the deceased be treated with respect and laid to rest in a consecrated place.

Pope Francis speaks at the Jesuits' 36th general congregation in Rome Oct. 24. Pope Francis, a Jesuit, met his Jesuit brothers after the election of a new superior but did not participate in the election.

Pope tells Jesuits to walk to peripheries, be open to future

ROME – Pope Francis, speaking both as pope and a Jesuit, asked members of the Society of Jesus to continue to journey to where Christ is most needed, and always ask God for consolation, compassion and help in discernment.

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