Traveling on an ITA Airways plane, Pope Francis set off on the longest foreign trip of his papacy.

In what was a devastating Sunday morning for hostage families, Israel said Sept. 1 that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents became outspoken global advocates for all hostages to be released.

The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said.

Australian volunteers working in East Timor say excitement is growing ahead of Pope Francis’ visit there in September, when more than half of the mostly Catholic population is expected to converge on the capital Dili.

While expert scholarship and good stewardship mean the pontifical universities in Rome should be working together, Pope Francis said it is essential that the Pontifical Urbanian University does not lose its centuries-long focus on preparing missionaries from and to the varied cultures of the world.

As immigration becomes an increasingly hot-button political issue in the United States and Europe, Pope Francis again underscored the moral weight of how migrants are treated, hammering home a message of acceptance that has been a pillar of his pontificate for more than a decade.

A few hours after he railed against unjust immigration policies at his general audience, Pope Francis and community organizers associated with the West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation returned to the theme of welcoming and integrating migrants.

A study published in July revealed that a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin, including the composition and a microscopic analysis of bloodstains, shows that the marks are consistent with the tortures endured by Christ as described in the Gospels.

Pope Francis asked Catholic bishops in the Middle East to always be “signs of hope, a presence that nurtures words and gestures of peace, brotherhood and respect.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Working to turn migrants away from the prospect of peace and security in a new country is “a grave sin,” Pope Francis said. “It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a […]