Cardinal Sandri asked for continued support for the traditional Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land

Hearts hardened by ideology, selfishness and arrogance leave no room for God, Pope Francis said. “The Lord only goes in hearts that are like his heart,” that is, “hearts that are compassionate, open,” the Pope said in his homily on February 18 during morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope reflected on the

Bitter or boring evangelisers will not help the Gospel or the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said. The Church and the Gospel will only “move forward with evangelisers (who are) joyful, full of life,” the Pope said on January 28. Christians must not be afraid or embarrassed to express the true joy that comes from having

Pope Francis has recognised the martyrdom of Fr Jan Franciszek Macha, a Polish priest who began his parish ministry when the Nazis invaded Poland and was imprisoned and murdered by its elite force, the SS, despite his mother’s efforts to secure a pardon from Adolf Hitler. The Pope also advanced the Cause of Bishop Ovide

The upcoming Synod of Bishops on the Amazon is an “urgent” gathering, not of scientists and politicians, but for the church whose main focus in discussions will be evangelization, Pope Francis said in a new interview. However, the importance of the Amazon region’s biodiversity and current threats it faces also will be addressed because “together

Announcing his desire to visit Iraq in 2020, Pope Francis called for a peaceful resolution to crises in the Middle East. He also warned that God would unleash his wrath on hypocritical leaders who liked to talk about peace while selling weapons to warring nations. “People escaping, crowded on boats, they cry out, seeking hope,

A weekly news programme about the Pope and the Vatican will now be offered in Latin, the official language of the Holy See. The five-minute news flash “will be an actual, real news broadcast with news and news reports,” said Andrea Tornielli, editorial director for the Dicastery for Communication. The programme is not meant as

Charity should be given freely and lived humbly with the poor, never letting it become hypocrisy, a slick business or a way to soothe a troubled conscience, Pope Francis said. “Not only does charity that doesn’t ‘reach the wallet’ end up being fake charity, so does charity that doesn’t involve the heart, soul and our

The Vatican’s highest court has cleared a Vatican official accused of the crime of solicitation in the confessional. The Apostolic Signatura said on May 17 that it finished an “administrative penal process” of Fr Hermann Geissler, an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who had been accused of “a grave delict.”

Pope Francis has told the heads of women’s religious orders from around the world they need to send Sisters on assignments that truly serve the Church and those in need, and not agree to requests for “maids.” “You did not become a religious in order to become the maid of a priest,” he said to

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, named a new director and editorial board for its women’s magazine, “Women-Church-World.” The announcement came a little more than one month after the magazine’s founder and former director, Lucetta Scaraffia, resigned along with her editorial staff, claiming a lack of trust and support from the new management at the newspaper.

Sometimes Christians seem to prefer complaining and being unhappy in life, but that makes them a perfect target for the Devil, Pope Francis said in a morning homily. “Desolation is from the serpent,” who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden and who “always bites” when a person sinks in despair, the Pope said on