Young people were going to confession on street corners and park benches throughout Lisbon during World Youth Day, but in the 150 plywood confessionals set up in Vasco da Gama Garden three of them found themselves face to face with Pope Francis.

A summer box office hit is garnering both kudos and concerns for its approach to the issue of child trafficking.

Typically observed every 25 years, a Holy Year or jubilee can draw millions of pilgrims to Rome — a 2,775-year-old city of 2.9 million people that already infamously copes with an average of 7 to 10 million tourists a year.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, the Knights’ supreme chaplain, introduced Mother Agnes as “a true disciple of the Lord working in a profoundly difficult apostolate.”

Before a sea of waving flags representing countries large and small from across the globe, Pope Francis told some 500,000 singing, shouting and swaying young people that God has called each person to him by name, not their social media handle.

A federal death sentence for the man convicted of a 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue marks the first such penalty sought for and won by the Biden administration, despite President Joe Biden’s pledge as a candidate to end the practice at the federal level.

Over 1,300 groups comprised of more than 28,600 individuals from across the United States joined the Portuguese WYD. The U.S. is among the five largest delegations participating in WYD, which is taking place Aug. 1-6 in Lisbon.

Meeting in a makeshift “Sistine Chapel” painted floor-to ceiling by students, Pope Francis, paintbrush in hand, left a mark on the hearts of young people by telling them not to shy away from the personal crises that come with a life of faith.

Mergers for several Archdiocese of St. Louis parishes are temporarily on hold pending an appeal to the Vatican by parishioners.

Fifteen World Youth Day pilgrims from Ukraine, most of whom had lost a father or other close relative in the war, had a private meeting with Pope Francis Aug. 3.