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 …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Christmas season is a time to learn from baby Jesus to let go of selfishness and be humble and giving as he is, Pope Francis said. In fact, people should take the little figurine of Jesus from …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) — New Jersey’s Catholic bishops called on people of faith and “of goodwill” to “go beyond their comfort zone” and renew their commitment to caring for immigrants, refugees and the poor. Expressing concern that the newcomers to the United States have been largely overlooked …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Wu Hong, EPA By HONG KONG (CNS) — When Chinese Minister of Housing Chen Zhenggao traveled to bustling Yiwu in mid-October, news reports said he told housing and law enforcement officials to “battle against illegal constructions” by learning from Zhejiang. Zhejiang has used the pretext of illegal building …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Debbie Hill By Judith Sudilovsky JERUSALEM (CNS) — On Christmas Eve, the entrance to the West Jerusalem YMCA was decked out in colorful lights against the night sky, and a Christmas tree sparkling with ornaments stood in the lobby. Jewish Israelis and international visitors, guests at the YMCA’s …

By Zoey Di Mauro BURKE, Va. (CNS) — Mary Susan Burnett-Miller was reading a magazine in a laundromat while on vacation in July when she read about the desires of a homeless man named T-Bone. The story she was reading originated in Ventura, California, where years earlier a group of …