VATICAN CITY - Returning to the Vatican in the midst of a heat wave after an eight-day, three-country trip to South America, Pope Francis took the kind of vacation he said he prefers: what has become known as a "staycation."

QUITO, Ecuador - When Pope Francis enters the Jesuit church here July 7 for a moment of private prayer, he will step into an architectural gem where trees once grew up through the floor.

3 Moments of the Day by Christopher S. Collins, S.J. (Ave Maria Press, 138 pages, softcover $17.60).

Prayer is a conversation with God — but are we delivering a one-way monologue? It can sometimes be difficult to hear God in prayer. However, 3 Moments of the Day presents a refreshingly simple, straightforward method to help us encounter God not only in prayer but throughout the day. 

VATICAN CITY - After spending close to an hour with Pope Francis, Cuban President Raul Castro told reporters he is so impressed by what the Pope does and says that he might start praying and could even return to the church.

The April 25 earthquake that killed more than 8,000 and left close to 15,000 injured was bad, but “it could have been terribly, terribly worse,” said Canadian Jesuit Father Bill Robins.

KATHMANDU, Nepal - Truckloads of relief material organized by church charities began moving across Nepal a week after the Himalayan nation was rocked by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake April 25.

With his wire-to-wire win at the Masters golf tournament this month, Jordan Spieth proved an old adage wrong: Nice guys don’t have to finish last.

When you are about to turn 100 there’s a tendency for people to fuss over you and ask silly questions.

When people began asking 99.9-year-old Fr. Michael Lapierre what it felt like to turn 100, he told them “I don’t have a choice.” On May 2, Canada’s oldest Jesuit will take his 100th birthday in stride.

DALLAS - Even after becoming the toast of the sports world, golfer Jordan Spieth, a 21-year-old Dallas Jesuit graduate, remained humble and down-to-earth as he worked the crowds at Augusta, handled the media and bantered with morning and late night talk show hosts after his historic win.

Earlier this year, I had a “dilemma.” There were five retreats happening in the same month — some landing on the same weekends. Which retreat should I go on? There was a Chinese Catholic students’ retreat, a quad university chaplaincies including my alma mater, one with the University of Toronto, another one on discernment and the silent retreat with the York University chaplaincy. In the end, I chose the days of discernment retreat. Funny enough, I ended up making a decision to go on a retreat to learn how to make better life decisions.

Pope Francis: Untying the Knots by Paul Vallely (Bloomsbury Press, hardcover, 240 pages, $18.81).


I love Pope Francis, but I was not thrilled when I received his biography for Christmas from a friend. But now that I’ve finished reading it, I can say Pope Francis: Untying the Knots is a page turner of a biography.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' decision to convoke a special Holy Year of Mercy has its roots in the event that led a teenage Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the priesthood.

ROME - The kidnapping of Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar has made Jesuit Refugee Service reassess the way it operates in many high-risk countries, said an agency official.

NEW DELHI - A Jesuit priest kidnapped in Afghanistan and held for eight months told reporters "God has saved me," but he said he did not want to discuss details of his captivity.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - A week of violence targeting foreign nationals and their businesses in Soweto and other Johannesburg townships is a national disgrace and "continues South Africa's shameful history of xenophobia," said The Jesuit Institute South Africa.