By Junno Arocho Esteves MEXICO CITY (CNS) — With anticipation growing in the streets of Mexico City for Pope Francis’ visit, a group of local pilgrims found time to thank their “mother” and prayed that it would give their country a spiritual awakening. Final preparations were underway at the Basilica …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO HAVANA (CNS) — Making his 12th trip abroad, Pope Francis was accustomed to collecting interview requests, notes and gifts from the journalists who travel on the plane with him. But his flight to Cuba Feb. 12 had a unique …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Miguel Sierra, EPA By David Agren MEXICO CITY (CNS) — A prison riot in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey has claimed 52 lives, offering another example of the problems plaguing Mexico’s prison system and casting a pall over the arrival of Pope Francis in the country. Nuevo …

IMAGE: CNS/Carol Glatz By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After opening holy doors in Rome to begin the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has now pushed those passageways even wider by sending forth hundreds of “missionaries of mercy” to every corner of the earth. Their special mission, he has …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis told Rome’s priests that offering God’s mercy during the jubilee year will mean lots of unpaid overtime. “I think this year there will be lots of overtime that will not be paid,” he said to laughter. “But the Lord will give …

By WASHINGTON (CNS) — What do a new social media campaign, a new fundraiser and new features for a popular app have in common? Launched by different Catholic organizations for Lent, the three efforts aim to help Catholics enrich their Lenten prayer experience, sacrifice to help others in need and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Pope Francis expressed his hopes that Iraq and other war-torn countries would have leaders strong enough to bring once-divided peoples together. “I wish for Iraqis and for all of us — for the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A jubilee year that does not open people’s wallets to share what they have with others is not a true jubilee, Pope Francis said. “This pope isn’t inventing that,” he insisted. “It’s in the Bible.” At his weekly …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Maxim Shemetov, Reuters By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — The planned Feb. 12 meeting in Cuba between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church will be a historic event, those involved in ecumenical relations agree, but they contend the proof of the pudding will lie …

By BOISE, Idaho (CNS) — In the 1980s, a wave of migrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries began to settle in Idaho. The agricultural industry made the state a prime location for these immigrants, who could work on the farms and ranches, often without having to know too …