FAITH/STORIES
HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Saying it is "perverse" to think the threat of nuclear weapons makes the world safer, Pope Francis urged a renewed commitment to disarmament and to the international treaties designed to limit or eliminate nuclear weapons.
Honour martyrs and work for peace, Pope Francis says in Nagasaki
NAGASAKI, Japan -- While the world knows Nagasaki as the site of a U.S. atomic bomb blast, for the Catholic Church it is also the site of one of the fiercest campaigns of anti-Christian persecution.
TOKYO -- Describing himself as a "missionary pilgrim," Pope Francis finally fulfilled a more than five-decade-old desire to share the Gospel in Japan.
Pope Francis tells Thai religious leaders to be brave enough to dialogue
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceBANGKOK -- Meeting Thai religious leaders and then celebrating Mass with Catholic young adults, Pope Francis encouraged them to strengthen a culture that treasures the past, holds fast to faith, is unafraid of differences and always seeks a way to promote dialogue and cooperation.
Pope Francis: Missionaries share joy, not rules
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceTHA KHAM, Thailand -- In a large, predominantly Catholic village outside Bangkok, tens of thousands of people lined the roads and filled the grounds of a church complex to greet Pope Francis.
Missionaries not "producers of proselytes" but humble beggars, Pope Francis says
BANGKOK -- Missionaries are not mercenaries, but beggars who recognize that some brothers and sisters are missing from the community and long to hear the good news of salvation, Pope Francis told the Catholics of Thailand.
Pope Francis: Migration is a principal moral issue today
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceBANGKOK -- Calling migration "one of the principal moral issues" facing humanity today, Pope Francis thanked the government and people of Thailand for the way they've welcomed migrants and refugees, but he urged greater efforts to protect migrants and poor Thais from human trafficking.
Vatican advocates for two states in Holy Land amid U.S. reversal
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY -- The Vatican reiterated its call for a two-state solution in the Holy Land after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the United States would no longer recognize the illegality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Pope Francis prays for Vietnamese migrants found dead in U.K.
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY -- In a message to young Catholics in Vietnam, Pope Francis offered prayers for a group of Vietnamese migrants who died while being smuggled into Great Britain in late October.
Pope Francis warmly welcomed to Thailand
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceBANGKOK -- Arriving in Thailand after an 11-hour flight, Pope Francis was greeted by 11 children -- one for each of the country's dioceses.
Efforts to protect life include promoting disarmament, Pope Francis says
VATICAN CITY -- A commitment to defending and protecting human life requires a commitment to ending wars and to promoting nuclear disarmament, Pope Francis said.
More must be done to include women in church bodies, Pope Francis says
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY -- Although people may have different ways of praying or of serving their parish or the poor, the Catholic Church needs laity, priests, religious, parishes and lay movements to collaborate in order to be truly "catholic," Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis blesses hands of doctors, nurses at pediatric hospital
By Junno Arocho Esteves, Catholic News ServiceVATICAN CITY -- The pained faces of children with serious medical conditions and the suffering of their families should inspire doctors and nurses to serve with passion and enthusiasm, Pope Francis said.