IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM MADAGASCAR (CNS) — Pope Francis told reporters he hoped and prayed the Catholic Church would not experience a new schism, but human freedom means people always have had and will have the "schism option." "I pray that there …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By Allyson Escobar BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) — Msgr. John Delendick, a longtime New York Fire Department chaplain who is currently pastor of St. Jude Church in Brooklyn, remembers Sept. 11, 2001, vividly. At the time of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Msgr. Delendick had just …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Loren Elliott, Reuters By Tom Tracy MIAMI (CNS) — In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, two Florida Republican senators have asked President Donald Trump to waive or suspend certain visa requirements for Bahamian citizens with relatives residing in the U.S. Hurricane Dorian stalled over the northern Bahamas Sept. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Oswaldo Rivas, Reuters By GENEVA (CNS) — With increasing concerns worldwide about human rights violations in Nicaragua, a Vatican representative has called for an immediate return to negotiations and a rollout of reforms necessary to hold "free and transparent elections" there. "The Holy See has been following with …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy of Father Douglas Hunter By John Shaughnessy INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — As the Catholic chaplain for the Indianapolis Colts, Father Douglas Hunter has access to the training facility, the team meetings and the sidelines during games. He’s even there in the locker room when head coach Frank Reich …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Reuters By Mwansa Pintu LUSAKA, Zambia (CNS) — Zambia’s bishops urged South African leaders to do more to stop xenophobic attacks, and a South African archbishop warned of a rising tide of hatred and violence in the country. "Xenophobia and its resultant chaos are not just …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring/Tyler Orsburn By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis appointed three delegate presidents for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. The pope named as delegate presidents for the Oct. 6-27 assembly Cardinals Baltazar Porras Cardozo, 74, of Merida, Venezuela; Pedro Barreto Jimeno, 75, of Huancayo, Peru; …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (CNS) — Here is the Vatican’s English translation of Pope Francis’ "Prayer for Workers," which he prayed Sept. 8 at the Mahatazana stone quarry: God our Father, creator of heaven and earth, we thank you for gathering us as brothers and sisters in …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (CNS) — Standing where the phrase "by the sweat of their brow" is a daily reality for hundreds of Madagascar’s poor, Pope Francis prayed for those whose daily bread is earned by hard physical labor and for the unemployed longing to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (CNS) — God’s plan for humanity involves community, mutual support, sharing and caring for each other and for the earth, Pope Francis said. "As we look around us, how many men and women, young people and children are suffering and in …