Catholic News Service NEW YORK — During an evening prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Pope Francis thanked the nation’s priests, brothers and women religious for their service and gave particular thanks to women religious saying, “Where would the church be without you?” The pope began with unscripted …

Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis made a previously unannounced 15-minute stop Sept. 23 at a Washington residence operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor, where he met with about 45 sisters. Sister Constance Veit, communications director for the Little Sisters, said the pope talked individually with …

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph As this story was typed Thursday afternoon, Pope Francis was more than 430 miles away in Washington, D.C. Despite the distance, thanks to modern technology, more than 600 people throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati gathered Thursday morning to watch the Holy Father address Congress. At least one other …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — The past, the promise and the potential of the United States must not be smothered by bickering and even hatred at a time when the U.S. people and indeed the world need a helping hand, Pope Francis told the U.S. Congress. Making history …

Staff Report Today’s Throwback Thursday goes back to 1987 when Pope John Paul II visited the United States. The image at right appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Sept. 16, 1987 by way to the Los Angeles Times as a way for Catholics to participate in a papal visit. The …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — Canonizing the 18th-century Spanish missionary, Blessed Junipero Serra, Pope Francis insisted a person’s faith is alive only when it is shared. Celebrating a late afternoon Mass outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Sept. 23, the pope declared the holiness …

By Kurt Jensen Catholic News Service WASHINGTON  — “Paaaaapaaaaa!” Popes in popemobiles create, as they always do, a sort of undulating ecstasy in the faithful who have traveled to see them. It was no different for Pope Francis as his heavily guarded Jeep Wrangler made a brief trip around the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Acknowledging the real challenges and burdens the U.S. bishops face in their ministry, Pope Francis shared with them his own experience as a pastor and urged them to keep their eyes focused on Jesus and their hearts open to others. “Woe to us,” …

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph With big goals and a big purpose, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati set out to welcome Pope Francis to the United States by honoring the Holy Father’s commitment to ending hunger. On Tuesday, the archdiocese announced all the goals had been met. The plan was …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Pope Francis introduced himself to President Barack Obama and all people of the United States as a “son of an immigrant family” arriving in the United States for the first time to learn from others and to share from his own experience. In …