Actor Shia LaBeouf, who portrayed the titular character of Abel Ferrara's “Padre Pio,” received the sacrament of confirmation over New Year's weekend, overseen by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars.

A Reflection for a Christmas Weekday, by Valerie Schultz

Pope Francis opened the new year by highlighting in his homily for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and his Angelus message the same day, the central role women have played in salvation history and that they still have for bringing peace to the world.

The star led the Magi to Jerusalem, “as we are always taken to Jerusalem—because we must encounter the Scriptures of Israel,” says David Neuhaus, S.J. “It is from the Scriptures of Israel that they will receive the precise destination to which they are going—Bethlehem.”

Pope Francis has continued to push for changes in the church, braving daunting opposition and several medical scares.

A Homily for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, by Father Terrance Klein

Cardinal Burke met privately with Pope Francis Dec. 29, about a month after reports that Pope Francis wanted to stop giving him a monthly salary and would ask him to pay the market rate for his Vatican apartment.

One must never dialogue, brothers and sisters, with the devil. Never!

The nature of family love, like all love, is vulnerability.

Pope Francis urged people to pray and work for peace in no less than ten conflict situations worldwide.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world."

On this week’s “Preach,” Yunan Frédéric shares with host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., his approach to preaching. “It’s like walking with a friend and talking together;” he says, “I am very much listening as well.

A Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, by Sam Sawyer, S.J.

A Reflection for Saturday of the Third Week of Advent, by Kerry Weber

In our celebration of Christmas, followers of Christ are invited out of our comfortable abodes to pitch our tent with the most vulnerable and needy in our communities.

C. S. Lewis was gifted with an expansive imagination—but much of his spiritual writing doesn't flinch from the hard realities of life.

St. Angela of Foligno was a medieval Franciscan mystic whose devotion to the side wound of Christ shows that we worship God not only with our minds but with our bodies.

As many of us set resolutions for the new year, it may be wise to look to the synod for inspiration.

Where my disability was once restrictive, I now see it as liberating and redemptive.