While society is increasingly focused on pushing the limits of human achievement, it must not lose sight of its duty to protect the dignity of the vulnerable, especially children exploited by the “scourge of child labor,” Pope Francis said.

During the Holy Year 2025, the international community should strive “to overcome the logic of confrontation and embrace instead the logic of encounter,” Pope Francis told ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to the Holy See.

A church in Pacific Palisades appeared to be destroyed and more than 60 Catholic schools were closed as several major fires in the Los Angeles area burned overnight into Jan.8.

A number of fellow prelates are offering their congratulations to Cardinal Robert W. McElroy on his appointment to the Archdiocese of Washington, an influential see that is home to the White House, Congress, and numerous lobbying and nonprofit organizations.

Three Kings Parades across Poland Jan. 6 broke records in the Jubilee Year as 2 million people marched down the streets of 905 cities and towns in an initiative that spread abroad from the European country with vibrant popular faith.

President Joe Biden has canceled his upcoming trip to Italy, including an audience with Pope Francis, in order to “remain focused on directing the full federal response” in the wake of the devastating wildfires raging in California, the White House said.

Saying he carried with him the sorrow of the nation for a “horrific act of terrorism” on New Year’s Day that claimed the lives of 14 people on Bourbon Street, President Joe Biden told grieving families at an interfaith prayer service Jan. 6 at St. Louis Cathedral that they would one day be released from their shared pain.

The boom in the number of pilgrims on Spain’s famous El Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, hit a record of almost half a million last year. Among them were 38,000 Americans.

While “synodality” might be a new concept to Catholics surprised by the Vatican’s request that dioceses worldwide engage in community discernment from 2021-2024, the U.S. friars of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe — humble as they are — would still like to gently remind us it’s something Franciscans like themselves have been doing for centuries.

With places fully booked at Paris’ iconic cathedral for months ahead, Notre Dame is not only back to its former glory but also to its full concert schedule.