IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis fulfilled his much-desired wish to pray in silence before the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. After celebrating the first Mass of his papal trip to Mexico Feb. 13, the pope made his way to the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court, died of apparent natural causes at a resort in West Texas Feb. 13. He was 79. Scalia, a Catholic, was appointed in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. Five of the …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By David Agren MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis demanded forceful denunciations of drug violence in Mexico from the country’s bishops, who have preferred timid pronouncements instead of speaking prophetically on a tragedy that has claimed more than 100,000 lives over the past 10 years and left …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis told Mexico’s president and government officials that the country’s future can be bright only if government and business leaders put an end to a culture of “favors” for the influential and scraps for the poor. “Experience teaches us …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden HAVANA (CNS) — At long last, Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow embraced, kissing each other three times. “Finally,” the pope told the patriarch Feb. 12 as they met in a lounge at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. “We are brothers,” …

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 …