CNS Reports God makes no one struggle with life’s challenges alone, pope says VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God is always by our side, never giving us more than we can handle, Pope Francis said. The countless women and men who stand tall through enormous difficulties, pain and especially persecution, are …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — When Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople meets Pope Francis in Jerusalem May 25, one of their main discussion topics will be the “diminishing Christian minorities in the Middle East,” the patriarch told Catholic News Service.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic …

Staff Report At St. Adalbert Parish, founded in 1903 to serve the Polish Catholic community in Dayton and vicinity, Pope John Paul II’s canonization had special significance, said Father Eric Bowman, pastoral administrator. The parish celebrated a special Mass, featuring songs and scripture readings in Polish, followed by a reception.

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Just days before Pope Francis was set to canonize two of his predecessors, he expressed his hopes the two soon-to-be saints would continue to inspire the whole church in its mission.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said the assassination of “my confrere,” a 75-year-old Dutch Jesuit in Syria, “filled me with deep sadness and made me think again of all the people who suffer and are dying in that martyred country.”

  By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis received U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27. In what was their first encounter, the two leaders spoke in private for more than 50 minutes, an extraordinarily long time for such a meeting.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — As leader of the universal church, a pope must direct his ministry in both of the ways traditionally described by the Latin terms “ad intra” and “ad extra”: inwardly to the church itself, and outwardly to the rest of the …

By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — In his first year as the 265th successor of Peter, Pope Francis “has brought to light new dimensions of the Petrine ministry and added new life to the office he holds,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee said March 11. He has done this in …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  ROME — Lent is meant to wake up Christians and help them see that God can give them the strength to change their lives and their surroundings, Pope Francis said. Before receiving and distributing ashes at an evening Mass March 5, Ash Wednesday, Pope …