IMAGE: CNS photo/Manuel Rueda By NAZARETH, Colombia (CNS) — On a Sunday morning, Deacon Ferney Pereira was leading a prayer service in this small village’s Catholic Church. After reading a passage from the Gospel of Luke, the 30-year-old deacon stepped down from the altar, walked among his congregation and delivered …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis named Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who has represented the Vatican at the United Nations since 2014, to be nuncio to Spain and Andorra. The Vatican made the announcement Oct. 1. It did not name a replacement as permanent observer …

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To help the church grow in love and faithful witness to God, Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be dedicated to the word of God. Salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scripture, he said in …

GREEN BAY, Wis. (CNS) — As long as she can remember, Polly Olsen, 29, said she has handed out heart-shaped cards on Valentine’s Day. “Basically since I could walk, me and my siblings would distribute them at nursing homes and hospitals,” said Olsen. “My mom would dress us up fancy …

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Three new dioceses have been carved out of the Archdiocese of Mexico, a move Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes of Mexico City said will bring pastors “closer to all the inhabitants.” The decision, announced Sept. 27, creates the dioceses of Azcapotzalco in northwest Mexico City; Iztapalapa, the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Barbara J. Fraser By Barbara J. Fraser LIMA, Peru (CNS) — The Amazon basin, with its hundreds of indigenous tribes, has been mission territory since the first Spanish and Portuguese priests set out in canoes along its rivers in the 17th century. As bishops and pastoral workers from …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Fordham University By Beth Griffin NEW YORK (CNS) — To those who ask why the Catholic Church seems to be "obsessed" with the poor, the Vatican’s secretary of state said, "The answer is simple. Because this is who we are." "Because taking care of the hungry, the thirsty, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Paige Hanley VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will highlight the important role of memory and storytelling across generations as a way to bring people together in a world marked by discord and division, the Vatican said. The pope believes that memory — far from …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians have a moral obligation to show God’s care for all those who are marginalized, especially migrants and refugees, Pope Francis said. "This loving care for the less privileged is presented as a characteristic trait of the God of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Ekaterina Anchevskaya, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Refugee advocates are opposed to the decision announced by the Trump administration Sept. 26 that it plans to admit no more than 18,000 refugees in the next fiscal year, the lowest number since the resettlement program was created in …