Vatican Document Offers Homily Help

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A homily at Mass is not a mini-catechism class, the Vatican says in a new document on homilies, but it is an opportunity to explain Church teaching using the Scripture readings and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “In the broadest sense, the homily is a discourse about the mysteries of […]

Vatican Moves to End Cover-Ups on Clergy Sexual Abuse

Bishops who do not comply with the child protection norms adopted by their bishops’ conferences and approved by the Vatican must face real consequences, said the president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Pope Says Women Must Have Greater Roles in the Church

“I am convinced of the urgency of offering space to women in the life of the church and to welcoming them, taking into account specific and changing cultural and social sensitivities,” Pope Francis said.

Pope’s Detour Surprises Immigrants

ROME (CNS) – When Pope Francis walked through the gate surrounding a group of shacks and very humble homes, it took a while for people to notice. In fact, when a couple of people looked out their doors, the pope’s chief security guard motioned them to come over. “Papa Francisco!” someone shouted in Spanish, and […]

Pope Announces He’ll Go to Bosnia

The one-day trip, scheduled for June 6, is an effort to bolster a minority Catholic population and encourage dialogue and friendship among once-warring ethnic and religious communities.

Vatican Panel to Study Alienation of Women

Violence against women, cultural pressures regarding physical appearance, and alienation of women from the Church are themes the Pontifical Council for Culture is set to explore.

Pope Says Christians Are United in the Shedding of Their Blood

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Christians are united in bloodshed as they suffer from violence and persecution in various parts of the world, Pope Francis told Christian leaders. Today’s martyrs are men and women, who through their witness to Jesus, are “persecuted and killed because they are Christian,” the pope said Jan. 25 during […]