Staff Report Pope Francis is visiting the United States of America for the first time this week. Check back here daily for the latest news. Update: On demand video by thUSCCB can be found HERE. Included below is a central list of all stories related to the papal visit. This page …

By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The first traces of preparation for Pope Francis‘ historic U.S. visit this September could be said to have started in Milan, Italy, in 2012. In closing the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families held there that year, Pope Benedict XVI announced …

By Carol Zimmerman Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — The Sept. 23 meeting between President Barack Obama and Pope Francis will likely continue the dialogue these two leaders began in a 2014 meeting at the Vatican and will likely lead to further action on ideas the two leaders share, said White House …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY  — There’s perhaps no other signature vehicle in the world more well-known than the popemobile. Tall and boxy or sleek and chic, it’s the one white ride that always catches people’s eye, mostly because of the special passenger waving inside. The popemobile …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service SANTIAGO, Cuba — In one of the calmer, more intimate moments of his visit to Cuba, Pope Francis and the country’s bishops offered special prayers to the Cuba’s patroness, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. The prayer Sept. 21 at the Shrine of …

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 John Stegeman Catholic News Service CINCINNATI (CNS) — When Pope Francis becomes the first pope to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Sept. 24, many will be watching on television or online. In downtown Cincinnati, residents, workers and tourists will be able to watch on a 30.5-by-42.5-foot …

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, …