VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis praised Catholics who support the Pontifical Mission Societies‘ work with the poor and those on the margins of society, saying such assistance is a concrete expression of Jesus’ love. “I pray that your almsgiving will continue to be offered with a joyful spirit and that your sacrifices will bear…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called on Catholics to focus their Holy Year 2025 pilgrimages on Jesus Christ, who is both the path and destination for Christian hope. At his general audience Dec. 18, the pope began a new series of talks on “Jesus Christ our hope,” which he announced will the theme for…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — On Pope Francis’ 88th birthday, two major newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean published two different excerpts from his new book on hope. The New York Times published the pope’s words on the importance of humor as a “guest essay” in its opinion section, while Italy’s Corriere della Sera…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a letter to his nuncio in Russia, Pope Francis called out those who would claim Russia’s war on Ukraine had any spiritual justification. Saying he wanted to speak on behalf of the war’s victims, Pope Francis said that “their cry rises to God, invoking peace instead of war, dialogue instead…
AJACCIO, France (CNS) — As Pope Francis became the first pope to celebrate Mass on the French island of Corsica Dec. 15, the usual excitement of an open-air Mass with the pope was combined with the flair and pageantry of a Renaissance fair. Throngs of Corsicans, dressed in medieval outfits and carrying banners depicting Marian…
ROME (CNS) — Making his customary visit to the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before his trip to the French island of Corsica, Pope Francis also met and prayed with dozens of actors staging a living Nativity scene. For the third year in a row, the basilica and an Italian association that…