VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Violence and hatred often are signs that a person is unhappy and feels unloved and unwanted, Pope Francis said. In today’s world, people — especially children and youths — often feel that unless “we are strong, attractive and beautiful, no one will care about us,” the pope said June 14 during
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — People cannot sit back and be indifferent or unresponsive to growing poverty in the world as a privileged minority accumulates “ostentatious wealth,” Pope Francis said. “God created the heavens and the earth for all; yet sadly some have erected barriers, walls and fences, betraying the original gift meant for all humanity,
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Life is a long series of hellos and goodbyes, so don’t be afraid to let go of the past; remember old friends, but keep moving and be open to the new, Pope Francis told students as the school year was coming to an end. “We have to learn to see life
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Works of mercy are not a way of easing one’s conscience but are acts of suffering with those who suffer, Pope Francis said. Being merciful toward others means not only sharing in their pain but also taking risks for them, the pope said June 5 in his homily during morning Mass
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The diabolical language of hypocrisy, which ensnares others through flattery, has the power to destroy Christian communities, Pope Francis said. Like the Pharisees who spoke to Jesus with soothing words of adulation, Christians who engage in hypocrisy speak gently yet “brutally judge a person,” the pope said June 6 at his
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Young people often are judged too easily, even though with their limitations they are still a much needed and valuable part of the world, Pope Francis said. Do not forget how God often chose the smallest, because proclaiming the Gospel “is not based on the greatness of human strength, but rather
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines called for an end to martial law in Mindanao, saying that it is “not the proper response to terrorist attacks in just one city on a vast island.” “The declaration of martial law is an extreme measure, and based on the reports
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Holy Spirit continues to give Christians different gifts and to call them to share those gifts with each other in a community marked by forgiveness and “unity in diversity,” Pope Francis said on Pentecost. “In a way both creative and unexpected,” the pope said, the Holy Spirit “generates diversity, for
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Muslim religious and political leaders in the Philippines have joined in the barrage of condemnation of the desecration of a Catholic cathedral by terrorist gunmen in the besieged city of Marawi. “Let it be known to all that Islam commands all Muslims even in war time to protect places of worship,”
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In early May, after the archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico, made a statement about an executive order dealing with immigration, he seems to have received more than a few unhappy responses. “A few wrote to me to say, among other things, that they are dismayed at my apparent lack of respect
