IMAGE: CNS photo/Sedat Suna, EPA By Gaby Maniscalco VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Even in the midst of constant bombing, Jesuit and Salesian priests remain in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, trying to create a sense of normalcy for those unable to leave. Jesuit Father Sami Hallak has been keeping a crisis journal …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Wealth and power are meant to serve the poor and the well-being of everyone, not to selfishly exploit others, Pope Francis said. When power loses that sense of service, it “turns into arrogance and becomes control and subjugation,” he said …

IMAGE: CNS photo/William Rieter By Jerri Donohue NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (CNS) — When Father Neil Kookoothe first met Joseph D’Ambrosio on Ohio’s death row in December 1998, he intended to describe the funeral of the condemned man’s mother. D’Ambrosio would not listen, however. Another inmate had told him the priest …

IMAGE: CNS photo/TaodueFilm, distributed by Medusa By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The usual fanfare that comes with the world premiere of a movie is pretty standard: the lights and cameras, the celebrities walking down the red carpet and screaming fans trying to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors. At …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Missionary spirit is manifested by preaching love, humanity and faith through one’s witness and not through proselytism, Pope Francis said. Faith in Jesus Christ is shared first through “witness then with words,” the pope said Dec. 2 at his weekly …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Archdiocese of Agana By Tony C. Diaz ALTAMONT, N.Y. (CNS) — Father Joseph Girzone, who became far more prominent in retirement than during active ministry because of his “Joshua” series of novels, died Nov. 29 at St. Peter’s Hospice Inn in in Altamont. He was 85. A …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Simon Caldwell By Simon Caldwell BURNLEY, England (CNS) — A diocese in England is using a double-decker bus as a venue for priests to hear the confessions of people who have stopped going to church. The Mercy Bus is touring the Diocese of Salford during Lent in an …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said he was consoled by Pope Francis’ words of understanding and tenderness after he expressed the disappointment of Ukrainians with a joint declaration signed by the pope and the Russian Orthodox patriarch. The pope’s …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Heads of state discussing carbon emission limits must create a global and “transformative” agreement built on justice, solidarity and fairness, a papal representative told the U.N. climate conference in Paris. Pope Francis has said “it would be tragic” if special interests “manipulated information” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Angelo Carconi, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For a Christian, talk is cheap; the faith requires concretely doing God’s will and serving the least as well as those around you, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass. “God is concrete” and so is the Christian …