Pope Francis wanted the summer program to support employees with families given the ongoing restrictions and fewer organized summer activities available during the global pandemic.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy issued a new instruction on pastoral care that specifies the role of lay men and women in the church’s mission of evangelization and offers guidance in parish reforms and restructuring.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a 17-page document offering a step-by-step guide for how bishops, religious superiors and canon lawyers are supposed to handle accusations of alleged abuse by clerics against minors.

Noting that Padre Kino is considered the “patron saint of the borderlands,” Garcia referred to him as “the voice of the underprivileged.”

Pope Francis said he was saddened after a Turkish court ruled to revert the iconic Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

Decrying the unimaginable “hell” migrants experience in detention centers, Pope Francis urged all Christians to examine how they do or don’t help — as Jesus commanded — the people God has placed in their path.

Human health, peace, security and progress would be better served with a complete end to the production of weapons worldwide, said members of a Vatican task force.

Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, a musician and retired Pope Benedict XVI’s elder brother, died July 1 at the age of 96.

Catholic media outlets in the United States are called to break down barriers that prevent dialogue and honest communication between people and communities, Pope Francis said.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican June 22, five days after flying to Germany to spend time with his ailing, 96-year-old brother.