Even though Abdellah Redouane has spent the past 20 years of his life as the director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Italy, the Morocco-born man can’t disguise his hope for the upcoming March 30-31 papal visit to his homeland.

Visiting Romania May 31-June 2, Pope Francis will stop at six destinations, including a popular Marian shrine in the Transylvanian region.

During a visit to the Italian city of Loreto on Monday, Pope Francis signed a new document dedicated to the youth and called on people to remember the importance of the family for society.

According to a new poll, an increasing number of Catholics believe anti-Christian persecution is a “very severe” global concern.

Sister Samia Jriej lives in Homs, a Syrian city that has been devastated by eight years of war. Sister Mari Graciana works in a hill region of Peru, where her congregation received special permission from the pope to celebrate the sacraments of baptism and marriage. Sister Cecilia is from Rwanda, a country that 20 years ago witnessed a genocidal war which led to the deaths of over a million people.

Ireland’s bishops have called the requirement that applicants to new posts at Dublins’s National Maternity Hospital be willing to carry out elective abortions, a violation of a doctor’s “constitutional and human right to freedom of conscience.”

As Syria’s civil war enters its ninth year, citizens in and outside the country find themselves in limbo. Catholic and other aid agencies are urging a swift resolution to the crisis.

The St. Addai Chaldean Catholic community in suburban Auckland felt the impact of the Christchurch mosque killings with a special poignancy, because many members have experienced the sufferings inflicted by terrorism.

When Pope Francis lands in Romania in late May, the local church hopes that he will be able to encourage a “spiritual wind” from the East into Europe and rebuild the chilled relations between the Catholic and Orthodox communities in the country.

The Catholic Church in Germany is at a point where serious debate — including on priestly celibacy and the role of women — and openness to doing things in a new way must encouraged, said the president of the German bishops’ conference.