Sex is not something the Church fears or is trying to control. Sex is not the opposite of prayer and spirituality, it’s not something we grudgingly concede to the young. Sex is not merely the mechanism of reproduction, although there’s no such thing as a full and true understanding of sex that can’t live with our human capacity to make babies.

Pope Francis’ long meditation on love in the family does more than sum up two meetings of the world’s bishops in Rome in 2014 and 2015. Francis is bringing a new spark to an old fire.

Pope Francis said on Tuesday that "persecution is the Church’s daily bread.”

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis' call to action on climate change does not want to ruin any business, provoking job losses, but seeks to point humanity in the right direction in protecting the environment for future generations, a Vatican official said.

Pope Francis on Monday spoke of the importance of taking stock of what is in people’s hearts and lives instead of only taking the law into account.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis appealed for the release of all people being held captive in the world's battle zones, including Salesian Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, who was abducted in Yemen.

If Pope Francis wanted a single image to illustrate the special Year of Mercy that is the current focus of his ministry and, indeed, at the heart of his pontificate, he could do no better than choosing an underappreciated masterpiece by the Italian artist Caravaggio.

Pope Francis presents a special call for young people in his new document, "'Amoris Laetitia' (The Joy of Love), on Love in the Family.”

He calls youth to be the generation that will restore hope to the future of the family. He emphasizes the importance of instilling good values within the family and expanding those values to the larger family of the Catholic Church.

OTTAWA — Canada’s Catholic bishops are glad to count Pope Francis as an ally in their fight against euthanasia. The bishops were anxious to point out how strong the Pope rejects euthanasia in his post-synodal exhortation Amoris Laetita: On Love in the Family, Apr. 8, noting in its teachings its rejection of euthanasia.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' document on the family reflects an "organic development" of Church teaching and doctrine, said Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, theologian and participant in both Synods that dealt with the topic.

VATICAN CITY – The same mercy and patience that are essential for building a strong family must be shown to those whose families are in trouble or have broken up, Pope Francis said in his highly anticipated post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

Pope Francis released its apostolic exhortation on the family, "Amoris Laetitia" (The Joy of Love) on Friday, April 8, 2016. Here are all the stories and reactions by The Catholic Register on the Pope's landmark document. 

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis’ landmark text on the family, scheduled for release on Friday, is expected to encourage a more open attitude toward the non-nuclear family but contain no change in Church doctrine.

VATICAN CITY - In an effort to highlight the dramatic situation of refugees left in limbo on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis and other Christian leaders will meet with the migrants April 16.

At his daily Mass on Thursday, Pope Francis said it is “the saints of ordinary life, and the martyrs of today that carry the Church forward.” They do so, he said, “with their consistent and courageous witness to the Risen Christ, thanks to the working of the Holy Spirit.”