VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Priests must always keep in mind that their mission is to serve others and not claim superiority over the people entrusted to their care, Pope Francis said. Meeting with seminarians from the Sicilian coastal city of Agrigento Nov. 24, the pope and told them that priests must never forget their roots
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis asked people to give thanks to God for the gift of so many men and women living a cloistered life of total dedication to prayer. “May these communities not lack affection, closeness and support,” including material support, from the entire church, he said, marking World Day of Cloistered Life,
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Jesus showed his authority as king not through the power of weaponry, violence or deceit but by the power of his love for the world through his death on the cross, Pope Francis said. Kingdoms founded “on the power of arms and on abuses of power” are frail and often collapse
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God handed down his commandments not for people to hypocritically follow the letter of the law with a proud and righteous heart, but for people to recognize the truth of their weaknesses and acknowledge their need for help, healing and salvation, Pope Francis said. “Blessed are those who stop fooling themselves,
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The desire to spend vast amounts on shopping and needless extravagances can prevent Christians from being generous with others, Pope Francis said. “Consumerism is a great disease today. I am not saying that we all do this, no. But consumerism, spending more than we need, is a lack of austerity in
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — People would be wise to think about Judgment Day and wonder what God will see when he examines their lives, Pope Francis said. “If the Lord were to call me today, what would I do? What will I say? What harvest will I show him?” the pope asked during Mass at
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After Islamic terrorists stormed the Algerian monastery he called home, Trappist Father Christian de Cherge felt compelled to put pen to paper and write down his testament. Father de Cherge, prior of the Monastery of Notre Dame de l’Atlas, said he held no ill will to those who would eventually kill
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Having some doubts is definitely better than having no doubts at all, Pope Francis told a group of seminarians. As the Synod of Bishops on “young people, the faith and vocational discernment” was continuing at the Vatican, the pope tackled some of the synod’s key questions when he met Oct. 13
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Lying or being inauthentic is seriously wrong because it hinders or harms human relationships, Pope Francis said. “Where there are lies, there is no love, one cannot have love,” he said Nov. 14 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square. To live a life “of inauthentic communication is serious
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the rich get richer, the increasing misery and cries of the poor are ignored every day, Pope Francis said. “We Christians cannot stand with arms folded in indifference” or thrown up in the air in helpless resignation, the pope said in his homily Nov. 18, the World Day of the
