Staff Report UPDATE: The Vatican denied Wednesday that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sufferers from any serious illness other than the problems associated with old age. A Newsmax report claims that Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denied reports in a Spanish newspaper that the former pope was facing any specific illness. …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis reaffirmed the importance of responding decisively to the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and called on the Vatican office dealing with suspected cases to continue carrying out its mandate. During an …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When hundreds of thousands of young Catholics gather with Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro in the summer, reflections on safeguarding the environment will be part of the program. Like earlier editions of World Youth Day, the July celebration in …

FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE NEWS ON POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, click here. By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called on the world’s priests to bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the …

Question of Faith is a Q&A column by Father Earl Fernandes A reader asks: Dear Father: “Will the new Pope make changes in Church teaching because he’s a Jesuit and Jesuits tend to be more liberal? Will I have to take three steps to the left?” Dear reader: Catholics should give …

“The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day: The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.” Just about any baseball fan or English major is familiar with those famous lines from the Ernest Lawrence Thayer poem Casey at the Bat. The poem resonated …

“There’s something happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.” Now that you may have the Buffalo Springfield song in your head, in a world where we see so much change daily, there’s something happening. This is the Year of Faith, of a New Evangelization, a new Holy Father. One …

As the first days of Pope Francis’ term of office dawned, there was a great deal of excitement about who this stranger from a far land was, what is going to be his main focus, what new initiatives will he bring to the life of the church? The research started …

CLICK FOR THE LATEST NEWS ON POPE FRANCIS. By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis celebrated his first Palm Sunday Mass as pope March 24, telling an overflow crowd in St. Peter’s Square that Christ’s death on the cross is a source of eternal consolation and joy. “A Christian can never be …