Catholic News Service Although it was not part of his formal program, Pope Francis took time after Sunday Mass to visit Cuba’s ailing former leader, Fidel Castro. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that after the Mass Sept. 20 in Havana’s Revolution Square, Pope Francis was driven to the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service HAVANA — As Cubans finally face the prospects of calmer relationships and greater ease of communication and commerce with the United States, Pope Francis told the Cuban people that love and service, not anyone’s ideology, are the keys to their happiness. “We do not serve …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service HAVANA — Pope Francis began his visit to Cuba praying for greater freedom for the island’s people and calling on U.S. and Cuban politicians to continue moving toward fully normal and neighborly relations. Meeting President Raul Castro and speaking before a small crowd at …

By Elise Harris CNA/EWTN News On the eve of his arrival to Cuba Pope Francis sent a video message to the small island nation, expressing his desire to be a witness of God’s mercy in the country, and to encourage locals to do the same. “I want to be among …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Arriving in the United States from Cuba, Pope Francis “will enter as a migrant” as millions of people have done before him, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. The cardinal, who will accompany the pope on his Sept. 19-27 visits to Cuba, …

By Patricia L. Guilfoyle Catholic News Service CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A broad digital media project to coincide with Pope Francis’ visit this fall to the United States aims to recruit and interact with young people, particularly those who do not think of themselves as religious. These “nones,” as researchers have …

By Elise Harris CNA/EWTN News The Vatican announced Sept. 15 that Bishop James V. Johnston, Jr. of Springfield-Cape Girardeau has been selected as the new head of the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese. Announced in a Sept. 15 communique from the Vatican, Bishop Johnston’s nomination falls just five months after the diocese’s …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A pope needs friends, needs mercy and needs to reach out to all people, Pope Francis said in two radio interviews released in mid-September. Pope Francis told Portugal’s Catholic Radio Renascenca that he goes to confession “every 15 days, 20 …

By Dennis Sadowski  Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis’ address to the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 25 will mark the fifth papal speech delivered directly to representatives of the world’s governments. His address will come almost 50 years to the day — Oct. 4, 1965 — when Blessed …

By Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic News Service KONSTANCIN-JEZIORNA, Poland (CNS) — Prominent Chinese Catholics have warned that a campaign to remove crosses from church buildings could signal wider restrictions on religious freedom, but cautioned Christians not to overreact. “Whatever those in power do, their first question now is how they can …