Pope Addresses Immigrants at Parish Visit

by Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) – Meeting 80 immigrants assisted by members of a Rome parish, Pope Francis said leaving one’s homeland is always painful, but faith can give one the strength to keep going. “The faith that your parents instilled in you will help you move forward,” the pope told the immigrants at the […]

Government Hostility To Religion on the Rise

by Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) – A Pew Research Center study issued Jan. 14 shows another increase in hostility toward religion by most of the world’s 198 nations. The share of countries with a high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year peak in 2012, the study said. The share […]

Obama Will Meet Pope at the Vatican

by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Vatican March 27, the White House announced and the Vatican confirmed. The spring meeting would be Obama’s second visit to the Vatican as president, but his first with Pope Francis, who was elected March 13, 2013. The […]

Haitians Celebrate Independence On New Year’s Day

The Diocesan Haitian Apostolate gathered at Holy Innocents Church, Flatbush, on New Year’s Day for its traditional celebration of Haiti’s Independence Day. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio was the main celebrant of the Mass which was celebrated in French/Creole. Retired Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq was among the concelebrants, as was Father Jean Delva, coordinator of the Haitian […]

Pope Visits Creche At St. Peter’s

Pope Francis visits the Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square after leading an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 31. Pope Francis said Rome, like all communities, will be more beautiful, hospitable, welcoming and kind in the new year “if all of us are attentive and generous toward whoever is […]

Pope Says Peace Begins at Home

by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Welcoming in a new year, Pope Francis said it was time to stop provoking and ignoring violence, tragedy and conflict in the world and begin building peace at home. “Justice and peace at home, among us – you begin at home and then you move on to all […]

Mideast Patriarch Puts Hope in Papal Visit

by Dale Gavlak AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) – Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem welcomed the announcement of Pope Francis’ May visit to the Holy Land and said he hopes the pilgrimage will be a “cry for peace,” particularly for Palestinians, Israelis, Syrians and others beset by conflict. Pope Francis announced his first trip as pontiff […]

Egypt’s President Visits Coptic Pope

CAIRO (CNS) – In an unprecedented and highly symbolic move, Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour paid a Christmas visit to the leader of the country’s Coptic Orthodox, Egyptian Pope Tawadros II. Previous presidents have extended Christmas greetings through presidential envoys or by phone. Mansour’s visit to Pope Tawadros’ papal seat in St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox […]

Pope: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Get Involved

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – This new year will be brighter only if everyone steps outside their safe havens, gets involved and works together to solve local problems, Pope Francis said. May Mary “teach us to welcome God made man so that every year, every month, every day be overflowing with his eternal love,” he said […]

Over Six Million Vatican Visitors in 2013

by Francis X. Rocca’ In the first nine and a half months of Pope Francis’ pontificate, more than 6.6 million people participated in papal events at the Vatican, including weekly general audiences, group audiences, liturgies and recitations of the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” on Sundays and holy days. The statistics, compiled by the Prefecture of […]