A 15-year-old Philadelphia-area boy was arrested last month for allegedly pursuing an Islamic State-inspired plot against Pope Francis, two federal law enforcement officials said Sept. 15.

VATICAN CITY - More than 360 participants, including 18 married couples from around the world, were expected to attend October's Synod of Bishops on the family.

Pope Francis says the Church is a mother and must have that loving and tender maternal feeling and human warmth as otherwise all that remains is rigidity and discipline. That was the message at the heart of the Pope’s homily on Tuesday (15th September) at the Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta Residence. Tuesday’s Mass was also attended by the C-9 Cardinals who are meeting in the Vatican this week.

If we want to move forward “on the path of Christian life" we must fall, just as Jesus did when he carried the Cross.

When Pope Francis visits the United States this month, most Americans will welcome him as a plainspoken champion of the voiceless, whose openness to change has brought new energy to the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis says that we must learn to not judge others or we all risk becoming hypocrites including the Pope himself. At the same time, he said, we need to have the courage to acknowledge our own faults in order to become merciful towards others. The Pope’s comments came during his homily on Friday (11th September) at the morning Mass in the Santa Marta residence.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis' reformed rules for marriage annulment cases, making the process simpler, quicker and less expensive, respond to calls that bishops from around the world have been making since before the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the family convoked by St. John Paul II.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warned against conflicts within the Christian community and said priests who struggle to be merciful should not be hearing confessions. He also reiterated his condemnation of those who produce lethal arms to be used in wars and said Christians must forgive and show mercy in all that they do. The Pope’s remarks came during his homily at Mass on Thursday (10th September) celebrated at the Santa Marta residence.

VATICAN CITY - Given the ongoing crisis of people fleeing from war and poverty, Pope Francis asked every parish and religious community in Europe to take in a family of refugees as a concrete sign of hope and God's mercy.

VATICAN CITY - While a juridical process is necessary for making accurate judgments, the Catholic Church’s marriage annulment process must be quicker, cheaper and much more of a pastoral ministry, Pope Francis said.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Monday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, with the recently-elected Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, His Beatitude Gregory Peter XX Ghabroyan, as well as with the Bishops of Synod of the Apostolic Armenian Catholic Church and the Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

Families are one great reason why Pope Francis is coming to America.

NEW YORK - New Yorkers and tourists in midtown Manhattan have been gazing up at a smiling Pope Francis at one of New York's busiest intersections.

“The California drought is so bad, people in Napa are asking the Pope to change the wine into water.”

VATICAN CITY - The church is called to embrace its past, present and future and to avoid the temptations to condemn or to legitimize everything just because it is new and different, Pope Francis told a group of theologians.