By Dan Meloy DETROIT (CNS) — While everyone is called to walk in the footsteps of the saints, Anthony Petz took things a little more literally. The Detroit native and San Diego resident recently completed a 500-mile, 12-stop pilgrimage along the El Camino Real in California, touring the missionary outposts …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano, handout via EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the place where his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, created the world’s first Nativity scene. “He wanted to visit the sanctuary and places where St. Francis, on Christmas Eve …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Margarito Perez, Reuters By David Agren MEXICO CITY (CNS) — The assassination of a Mexican mayor the day after she assumed office was a message from organized crime and evidence of its influence in the area around the city of Cuernavaca, said the bishop who celebrated her funeral …

By Carol Glatz and Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God’s ability to forgive “knows no limits” as his mercy frees people from bitterness and despair, Pope Francis said. “The church’s forgiveness must be every bit as broad as that offered by Jesus on the cross and by Mary …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The gift of mercy is a light that helps Christians reflect on the past year and radiates hope at the start of the new year, Pope Francis said. While retracing the events of 2015 may recall moments of both …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Sid Hastings, EPA By Dave Leucking VALLEY PARK, Mo. (CNS) — At about 8:30 on a chilly morning Dec. 30, Mickey Downing of the Valley Park Fire District went house to house in lower Valley Park, knocked on doors and asked people to evacuate for their safety with …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Singing is good for one’s soul and, as St. Augustine says, Christian life is not a sad path but a joyous one that is done “singing and walking,” Pope Francis said. “Remember this: Sing and walk,” the …

IMAGE: CNS By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The god of Mammon, who is “like a wild animal, trying to clutch me with his talons and enslave me,” and people not open to the Holy Spirit, who “are like swamps that give off foul-smelling gases,” are just a few …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Maurizio Brambatti, EPA By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More than 3.2 million pilgrims visited and attended papal events, liturgies or prayer services at the Vatican in 2015, the Vatican said. The statistics, released Dec. 30, were compiled by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, which …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kate Munsch, Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called on Christians to pray for victims of several natural disasters that have hit parts of the United States, Great Britain and Paraguay. “I invite you to pray for the victims of disasters that in …