OTTAWA – Bishop Daniel J. Miehm, who will be installed as the new Bishop of Peterborough on April 19, may be a canon lawyer by training, but his first love is pastoral service.

Avoiding evil, learning to do good, and allowing yourself to be carried forward by the Lord: this is the path of Lenten conversion pointed out by Pope Francis in his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. It is a conversion, the Pope said, that is manifested not with words, but with “concrete things.”

Vilma Cortellucci-Fiuza was battling nerves as she stepped up to speak in front of the Holy Father.

TIGRE, Argentina – The Polish pope, St. John Paul II, made nine visits to his country of birth, the first in 1979, less than a year after his election.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis will make a six-day trip to Colombia in September with four cities on his itinerary, almost a year after the government and FARC rebels signed a major peace agreement.

ROME – Despite opposing views on some issues, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will still look for common ground on global issues, the interim leader of the embassy said.

Before South Sudan was a country, Luciano Moro was a refugee from South Sudan building a new life alone in Canada.

Pope Francis has been commended frequently as a forceful advocate for reform regarding the Church’s response to clerical sex abuse. But the resignation of a female member of the commission he established to steer those reforms has cast a shadow over his good intentions.

VATICAN CITY – In a newly-released interview Pope Francis discussed the shortage of vocations to the priesthood, saying the first response must be prayer. He also mentioned working with youth, the low birthrate, and the ordination of married men.

VATICAN CITY – The mother of American journalist James Foley, who was executed by the Islamic State group in Syria, has travelled to Rome to thank Pope Francis for the sympathy and support he gave her family after her son’s death.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s top doctrinal official, Cardinal Gerhard Muller, has rejected suggestions from a clergy abuse victim that Pope Francis is facing critical internal resistance from foes of his efforts to overhaul the Church’s central administration.

VATICAN CITY – Although the Holy See reported a deficit of 12.4 million euros ($17.6 million) in 2015, significant progress has been made in the budgeting process and carrying out economic reform, the Vatican said.

VATICAN CITY – On the first Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis said if we want to fight against the temptation of sin, we must be familiar with the Word of God – treating the Bible more like how we treat our cellphone.

Atlantic Canada bishops will lead off two months of visits to Rome which will see all of Canada’s active bishops participate in “ad limina” meetings with a Pope for the first time since 2006.

True fasting is helping your neighbour; while false fasting mixes religiosity with dirty deals and the bribes of vanity. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday.