Pope Francis

August 18, 2017

Pope offers prayers for victims of terrorist attack in Barcelona

A police officer helps evacuate people after a van crashed into pedestrians in the Las Ramblas district of Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 17. Terrorists killed at least 12 and injured more than 50 others.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of a terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain, that left at least 12 people dead and injured dozens of others.

Published in International

August 16, 2017

Pope prays for victims of 'devastating' mudslide in Sierra Leone

Residents and rescue workers search for survivors after a mudslide in Regent, Sierra Leone Aug. 14.

Pope Francis offered his condolences and his prayers to the people of Sierra Leone after flooding and a major mudslide Aug. 14 led to the deaths of hundreds of people and displaced thousands.

Published in Vatican

August 15, 2017

Pope entrusts to Mary victims of disasters, conflict, social tension

Pope Francis gives a blessing during his Angelus prayer on the feast of the Assumption, Aug. 15, at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY – In a week in which natural disasters, war and racial conflicts dominated the headlines, Pope Francis prayed that Mary would bring peace to a divided world.

Published in Vatican

August 9, 2017

Pope prays for Christian victims of violent attacks in Africa

A still image taken from a video shows people gathering outside St. Philip Catholic Church following a deadly shooting by unknown gunmen Aug. 6 in Ozubulu, Nigeria. Pope Francis called for an end to violence against Christians following deadly attacks at St. Philip's and at a mission in Gambo, Central African Republic.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis called for an end to violence against Christians following deadly attacks in two African countries.

Published in Vatican

August 8, 2017

Pope orders Belgian religious order to stop euthanizing patients

Pope Francis has given the Brothers of Charity Group, a Belgian religious order, until the end of August to stop offering euthanasia to psychiatric patients.

MANCHESTER, England – Pope Francis has given a Belgian religious order until the end of August to stop offering euthanasia to psychiatric patients.

Published in Vatican

August 8, 2017

Pope Francis planning to visit Myanmar, say unconfirmed reports

People gather inside St. Mary's Cathedral in 2011 in Yangon, Myanmar. Church sources say they expect Pope Francis to visit in late November.

YANGON, Myanmar – Pope Francis is expected to focus on trying to improve the troubles of about a million ethnic Muslim Rohingya when he visits Myanmar the last week of November, reported ucanews.com.

Published in Vatican

August 6, 2017

Filipino Jesuit on road to sainthood under Pope’s new beatification category

Filipino Jesuit Brother Richie Fernando, who was 26-year-old when he died protecting his students from a hand grenade in Cambodia, is on his road to sainthood thanks to a new beatification category created by Pope Francis in early July.

MANILA, Philippines – Brother Richie Fernando was a 26 year-old Jesuit seminarian from the Philippines when in 1996 he died protecting his Cambodian students from a hand grenade.

Published in Vatican

August 1, 2017

Pope names coadjutor to Hong Kong as Cardinal Tong retires as bishop

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal John Tong Hon, pictured here from 2012, as bishop of Hong Kong. Coadjutor Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung, 70, succeeds the cardinal as head of the diocese, the Vatican announced Aug. 1.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal John Tong Hon as bishop of Hong Kong. Coadjutor Bishop Michael Yeung Ming-cheung, 70, succeeds the cardinal as head of the diocese, the Vatican announced Aug. 1.

Published in International

July 31, 2017

Pope marks feast of St. Ignatius by lunching with brother Jesuits

Pope Francis greets the crowd while arriving to celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Ignatius in Rome April 24, 2014. To mark the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Pope Francis visited his brother Jesuits at their General Curia house in Rome.

ROME, Italy – To mark Monday's feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, Pope Francis as usual visited his brother Jesuits at their General Curia house in Rome.

Published in Vatican

July 31, 2017

Pope leads prayers for victims of 'perverse plague' of trafficking

Dutch police search a Spanish truck at the border after nine immigrants were rescued from the freezer of the vehicle in early February in Hazeldonk, Netherlands. The truck driver was arrested as a suspect of human trafficking.

VATICAN CITY – Human trafficking is "brutal, savage and criminal," Pope Francis said, but often it seems like people see it as a sad, but normal fact of life.

Published in Faith

July 28, 2017

Colombian martyrs: witnesses to the point of death

People are seen in front of the cathedral in Villavicencio, Colombia, in this 2012 file photo. Pope Francis will beatify Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro Ramirez Ramos in this city Sept. 8.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis' decree to beatify two Colombian martyrs from two troubled eras in the South American country's history underscores his call for courageous witness amid violence and persecution.

Published in Faith

July 28, 2017

Comment: Bride’s best laid plans melt in Pope’s hand

The newlywed Raimondos, Vanessa and her husband Daniele, at the Vatican where their nuptials were blessed by Pope Francis.

Rome in June is notoriously hot. But Rome in June wearing a wedding veil is even hotter.

Published in Guest Columns

July 27, 2017

Our Lady of Czestochowa to receive a new crown on coronation’s 300th

In honour of the 300th anniversary of Our Lady of Czestochowa’s first coronation, the original crowns, which was stolen in 1919, have been replicated.

CZESTOCHOWA, Poland – Three hundred years ago this September the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa was crowned Queen and Protector of Poland by Clement XI.

Published in International

July 27, 2017