IMAGE: CNS photo/Olivier Douliery, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ visit to Egypt, a land increasingly marked by terrorist-led bloodshed, stands as part of his mission to inspire and encourage today’s actors in theaters of violence to change the script and set a new stage. Just …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — For all his love of politics and the “frothy media excitement” that surrounds it, Stephen F. Schneck is hardly a political animal. He’s more the thoughtful type, bringing a calm demeanor and insights formed by his Catholic faith to the …

IMAGE: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For St. Francis of Assisi, following Christ meant imitating his humility and forsaking riches, power and status; the men who call themselves Franciscans today believe they are called to embrace the same attitudes, including in their governance. In early April, …

By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — If U.S. President Donald Trump requests a meeting with Pope Francis in May, the Vatican will try to make it work, a top Vatican official said. “Pope Francis always is willing to welcome heads of state who ask,” Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Vatican substitute secretary of …

By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will declare the sainthood of Blessed Jacinta Marto and Blessed Francisco Marto, two of the shepherd children who saw Mary in Fatima, Portugal, during his visit to the site of the apparitions May 13. The date was announced April 20 …

By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Supreme Court justices seemed to side with the church in a separation of church and state case argued April 19 about a Missouri Lutheran preschool barred from receiving state funds for playground resurfacing using recycled tires because it is a church property. In his …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Georgetown University and the Society of Jesus’ Maryland province apologized April 18 for their roles in the 1838 sale of 272 enslaved individuals for the university’s benefit. More than 100 descendants attended a morning “Liturgy of Remembrance, Contrition and Hope” …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople was scheduled to attend a peace conference in Cairo with Pope Francis and Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University. While Patriarch Bartholomew’s office did not release a detailed schedule of events he would be attending …

By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christian faith is a grace and can be perceived only in the hearts of those willing to be surprised by the joy of the Resurrection, Pope Francis said. “A closed heart, a rationalistic heart” is incapable of understanding the Christian message which …

IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — This summer’s Convocation of Catholic Leaders comes at a time when the U.S. Catholic Church is seeking how best to respond to a changing social landscape while bringing Pope Francis’ vision for a church that offers mercy and joy to the …