By Laura Ieraci Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA — Irish pilgrims in Philadelphia shared their excitement after Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, announced the 2018 World Meeting of Families would be held in Dublin. Irish pilgrim Mary Fitzgibbon’s reaction was raw when she spoke with …

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA — Among the pilgrims gathered for Pope Francis’ Mass on Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sept. 27 was Nga Bich Tham, who was wearing a traditional hat of her native Vietnam. The hat bore the words, “I came here for Jesus and Pope Francis.” “I …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis speaks often about memory and motion, the importance of remembering where you came from and setting off without fear to share the Gospel. That’s what he did in the United States. He circled the Statue of Liberty in a helicopter …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM PHILADELPHIA — As the American Airlines plane taking him to Rome from Philadelphia took off, Pope Francis said he pictured the faces of all the people he met, and he prayed for them. At the end of his first-ever …

By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA — Pope Francis urged the hundreds of thousands of people gathered for the closing Mass of the World Meeting of Families to serve and care for each other as freely as God loves the human family. The pope called upon the faithful to …

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — There is no single way for every person at a papal Mass, or even near one, to be excited. Whether on one’s feet or in one’s seat, people feel a certain tingle when they know the pope of the Roman Catholic …

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 Alan Holdren & Andrea Gagliarducci CNA/EWTN News  VATICAN CITY — Although it’s still not official, the Vatican’s Secretary of State confirmed today that Pope Francis will most likely visit Washington D.C. and New York during his visit to the United States. “I think the Pope will go to United Nations, …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September, making it the first confirmed stop on what is expected to be a more extensive papal visit to North America. The pope made the announcement …

CNS Reports Appeals court stays Texas execution over claim of mental disability AUSTIN, Texas (CNS) — An execution scheduled for May 13 in Huntsville was stayed by a federal appeals court in New Orleans two hours before Robert James Campbell was set to be put to death.