Cindy Wooden - Catholic News Service

Pope Francis has considered the possibility of visiting Cuba in September—before or after his trip to the United States—but discussions with Cuban authorities are so preliminary that the idea cannot be considered more than a hypothesis, the Vatican said."Contacts with the Cuban auth

The process of arriving at new statutes and bylaws was not always smooth.

Mercy is what makes God perfect and all-powerful, Pope Francis said in his document officially proclaiming the 2015-2016 extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy."If God limited himself to only justice, he would cease to be God, and would instead be like human beings who ask merely that the law be resp

Condemning deadly terrorist attacks against a Catholic and an Anglican church in Pakistan, Pope Francis said "the world is trying to hide" a wave of anti-Christian persecution in various parts of the globe."With sadness, with much sadness, I learned of the terrorist attacks today agai

As the second anniversary of Pope Francis' election approached, an international group of philosophers, sociologists and theologians gathered to discuss how to renew the church in a secular age; many said that is exactly what Pope Francis is doing."I think the church had gotten into the sta

Pope Francis is expected to canonize Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, during the world Synod of Bishops on the family in October.Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, leading a conference Feb. 27 on the role of saints in the

The classic Christian martyr accepted death when presented with the option "convert or die."When the pagan emperors of Rome carried out bloody campaigns against Christians during the first three centuries of the church's history, the Christian community had no difficulty in recognizing

Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero will be beatified in San Salvador "certainly within the year and not later, but possibly within a few months," said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the postulator or chief promoter of the archbishop's sainthood cause.Speaking to reporters Feb. 4, the day