IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God sends his consolation to those in need of reassurance, even when they are facing death, Pope Francis said. Just like the early Christian martyrs, who sang as they marched to their deaths in the Colosseum, today’s martyrs …

IMAGE: CNS photo/EPA By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The lives of 19 religious men and women martyred during the Algerian civil war are a testament to God’s plan of love and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, Pope Francis said. In a message read Dec. 8 at …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Pope Francis made surprise visits Dec. 7 and 8 to people receiving medical care far from their homes, to a dozen intellectually challenged young people and to the staff of a major Rome newspaper. The late-afternoon visits Dec. 7 to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — In the heart of Rome, near streets of fancy shops already blinged out for Christmas shopping, Pope Francis prayed for Romans struggling to survive and for families in the city and around the world who face the same lack of …

IMAGE: (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — San Franciscans will celebrate the recently commissioned "Mass of the Americas" Dec. 8 for the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe at the archdiocese’s Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. The liturgy, scheduled for 2 …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The annual unveiling of the Vatican’s Christmas tree and Nativity scene brought some much-needed warmth to people’s hearts as winter approached. Hundreds of people in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 7 applauded as white curtains unfurled, revealing a 52-foot …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON — Just last year, Catholics were required to attend separate Masses two days in a row for the Sunday obligation and Monday’s Christmas Mass. Now, they have a similar opportunity this year with the feast of the Immaculate Conception falling on a …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When storm clouds gather and the Catholic Church is tossed by the scandalous behavior of some of its members, Catholics must repeat what St. Francis of Assisi repeated: "God is and that suffices," the preacher of the papal household told …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Christina Gray, Catholic San Francisc By Christina Gray SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — Deacon Ray Helgeson left his home in Paradise on the morning of Nov. 8 with his wife, Donna, for daily Mass at the close-knit Butte County town’s only Catholic church. They never arrived. On the short …

By Carol Glatz and Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis approved a new set of laws concerning the structure and governance of Vatican City State in an effort to simplify the many offices and activities of the world’s smallest nation and to boost oversight, transparency and budgetary …