After checking with the pope himself and other sources, Father Lombardi told reporters "the pope enjoys good health" and that the unsubstantiated news report was "a serious act of irresponsibility, absolutely unjustifiable and unspeakable."

Weary faces, fussy babies, little boys teasing little girls to the point of tears and repeated uses of the Arabic word, "inshallah" (God willing) reflect the uncertainty faced by refugees trying to reach northern Europe.Thousands of people fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan pass through t

All of Christ's disciples, especially its pastors, are called to model themselves after Jesus and "suppress our instinctive desire to exercise power over others, and instead exercise the virtue of humility," Pope Francis said.

 Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami cut to the chase about halfway through his Oct. 8 keynote at a Respect Life celebration sponsored by the Diocese of Evansville."The story of the Holy Family is instructive," said Archbishop Wenski, who devoted his remarks to migration and immigrat

"The Temple Mount has come to symbolize a national focal point in which the fate of the whole Jewish sovereignty of the Land of Israel is to be decided." A parallel process has occurred for Muslims over the past 20 years, and the compound has become first and foremost a symbol of nationalism, with the Al-Aqsa mosque coming to define Palestinian identity as Arabs.

Non-state actors, Secretary of State Kerry said, “are now the principal persecutors and preventers of religious tolerance and practice. Most prominent, and most harmful, obviously, has been the rise of international terrorist groups such as Daesh, al-Qaida, al-Shabaab, Boko Haram. And all have been guilty of vicious acts of unprovoked violence.”