VATICAN CITY – On Friday Pope Francis paid a visit to Rome’s Roma Tre university, stressing to students the importance of dialogue, listening and integration in putting an end to the fear that can at times be generated in the face of welcoming new migrants.

OXFORD, England – Catholic and Orthodox leaders have pledged to stand together against fundamentalism and terrorism, as well as resisting forces working to erode and destroy religious belief in Europe.

VIENNA, Austria – European leaders gathered this week at a conference in Vienna to discuss Christian persecution and its resounding effect on Europe, particularly emphasizing the need to seriously address religious discrimination and genocide around the world.

WARSAW, Poland – Europe's top Catholic charitable agency has published a "road map for social justice and equality," urging all church members to defend the poor and marginalized.

When I moved out of home for the first time, going to university, the big decision was taking matters of faith into my own hands. At university, there is no parent to wake you up on Sunday morning and drag you out to church. Did I really want to do all of that?

ROME – Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, a close ally of Pope Francis, is trying to clarify a provocative warning he made that Europe was at risk of an “Islamic conquest” because it had squandered its Christian heritage.

There is a global refugee crisis, but it’s not in the rich west, the international director of the Jesuit Refugee Service told The Catholic Register in an e-mail.

I’ve had an action-packed few days. If you’ve followed through my photo diary albums, you’ll see that I’ve been in seven cities in three days. A lot of the days are spent being shepherded through historical sites, like cathedrals, monasteries and towns that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years.

PARIS – On a sunny spring morning, an 18-year-old college student wrapped a scarf around her head to feel what it would be like to wear a veil.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is calling on Catholics to play a part in the “rebirth” of a united Europe that opens its doors to refugees.

Good fences make good neighbours, wrote Robert Frost. But don’t try telling that to the bishop of Eisenstadt, Austria.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis will welcome several thousand homeless and vulnerable people from all over Europe when they make a pilgrimage to Rome in November.

VIENNA – An Austrian bishop said the government may not use Church property to build a border fence to keep out refugees.

VATICAN CITY – Before St. John Paul II arrived in Greece in 2001 there were protests by Orthodox faithful and an all-night prayer vigil by Orthodox monks on Mount Athos, praying that the pope would not come.

VATICAN CITY - The number of baptized Catholics worldwide has grown at a faster rate than that of the world's population, according to Vatican statistics.