FAITH/STORIES
The prayers of nuns and monks are like "oxygen" for all members of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis decides women will be voting members of Synod of Bishops
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceAt least three dozen women will be voting members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October, Pope Francis has decided.
Suffering is a reality to explore, not ignore, Pope Francis says
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceSuffering and death are human realities that raise questions people need to ask themselves, Pope Francis said.
Vatican sends relic of true cross to Britain's King Charles
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceAs Britain's King Charles III walks into Westminster Abbey for his coronation, he will walk behind a processional cross containing a relic of Christ's cross given to the king by Pope Francis.
Pope Francis prays that Easter joy would break through gloom of sin, war, strife
On a bright spring morning, Pope Francis prayed that Christians would experience the joy of Easter and allow Christ's resurrection to be "the light that illumines the darkness and the gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped."
Everyone can 'fall,' Pope Francis tells inmates; Jesus wants to save each one
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServiceJesus never abandons anyone; he has come to save, serve and accompany everyone, Pope Francis told young inmates.
Pope Francis says be close to those 'abandoned' like Christ: unborn, migrants
The unborn, migrants, the elderly and the disabled are "living icons" of Jesus that call Christians to draw close to those who feel abandoned just as Christ did on the cross, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis set to leave hospital after three-day stay for bronchitis
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News ServicePope Francis enjoyed a pizza "party" with staff on his second night at Rome's Gemelli hospital and was expected to be released from the hospital April 1, the Vatican press office said.
Doctors report 'marked improvement' in Pope Francis' condition
By Justin McLellan, Catholic News ServiceMore than 24 hours after he entered the hospital, Pope Francis' doctors reported a "marked improvement" in his condition, which they attributed to treatment with intravenous antibiotics.
Responding to Indigenous, Vatican disavows 'doctrine of discovery'
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServiceThe Catholic Church formally "repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political 'doctrine of discovery,'" a Vatican statement said.
Pope Francis issues updated 'Vos Estis' text for handling abuse cases
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News ServicePope Francis has updated the procedures for investigating allegations of sexual abuse or the cover up of abuse, specifying that the leaders of Vatican-recognized international Catholic lay associations and movements have the same responsibilities over their members that a bishop has over the priests of his diocese.
Pope Francis asks Catholics to renew consecration of world to Mary every March 25
Pope Francis has invited Catholics worldwide to renew the act of consecrating the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine, to Mary every March 25, the feast of the Annunciation.