IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Let the Year of Mercy be the time to end all family feuds, to forgive each other and let bygones be bygones, Pope Francis said. “I think about so many brothers and sisters who are estranged from their families; they …

By Jessica Trygstad ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — Catholic youths from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were among those stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike overnight on the way home from the annual March for Life in Washington. And they had stories to tell that include attending an impromptu …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Andrew Medichini, pool By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican, Pope Francis told him he had high hopes for peace. And while Pope Francis usually asks those he meets for their prayers, the Shiite cleric pre-empted the pope’s request …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one’s faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said. “Faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — After walking across the threshold of the Holy Door with an Orthodox metropolitan and an Anglican archbishop, Pope Francis invoked God’s mercy upon divided Christians and apologized for times that Catholics may have hurt members of other denominations. “As bishop of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Kurt Jensen WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic admonitions about inclusion mixed with strong political language before the March of Life got underway Jan. 22 in Washington. At a Jesuit-sponsored Mass for life at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Church that morning, Father Paddy Gilger’s homily reminded a …

IMAGE: EPA By Simone Orendain CEBU, Philippines (CNS) — The 51st International Eucharistic Congress kicked off with Pope Francis’ representative, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, declaring war on poverty. “The Eucharist calls for … a third world war against poverty,” said Cardinal Bo, “a third world war against the …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis told a group of seminarians that seeking a so-called “normal” life in the priesthood would turn them into pastors who were “mediocre or worse.” A priest who is tempted to live the way most people live today “begins to settle for …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will visit Sweden in October to participate in an ecumenical service and the beginning of a year of activities to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Leaders from the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation had already been …

By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — A growing number of U.S. public school districts are combining lessons in world religions with U.S. government and politics as they grapple with closing schools for religious holidays. “The question is not should we do it. We have to do it to live with …