Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters on May 26. During a wide-ranging inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the Holy Land, the pope also confirmed reports the Vatican is investigating charges its former secretary of stat

On last morning in Holy Land, Pope Francis reaches out to Muslims and Jews.

Half a century after a historic encounter between their predecessors, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in the same place to seek inspiration for Christian unity at the site of Christ's death and resurrection."We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb wa

Celebrating Mass a few steps from the spot traditionally believed to the birthplace of Jesus, Pope Francis said that the way society treats its young reveals its moral character.Children are a "diagnostic sign, a marker indicating the health of families, society and the entire world," the

Pope Francis invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to pray together at the Vatican for peace between their nations.The pope made the announcement May 25, after praying the "Regina Coeli" at the end of Mass that Abbas attended in Manger Square, in Be

Jordan's powerful and marginalized joined together at the banks of the River Jordan to welcome Pope Francis at the site believed to be where Jesus was baptized.Jordan's King Abdullah II, his wife, Queen Rania, and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the monarch's personal representative

The work of "achieving peace" between the Israelis and Palestinians peace needs "your continued, determined engagement," U.S. Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders told Secretary of State John Kerry."We believe the time for Israeli-Palestinian peace is now," they said in

U.S. Father Robert W. Oliver argues more must be done to address negligence.

Head of Caritas international aid network urges refugees in Jordan not to lose hope.

Jesuit journalist Father Thomas J. Reese is among several new members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.In a May 14 announcement, President Barack Obama named Father Reese to the organization that serves as a monitoring and advisory panel to the federal government on religiou