The cold-heartedness demonstrated in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East is like a bitter winter that seems like it will never end, said Pope Francis.

"Laudato Si'," the title Pope Francis chose for his encyclical on the environment, comes from a hymn of praise by St. Francis of Assisi that emphasizes being in harmony with God, with other creatures and with other human beings, said the head of the Franciscan order.Sitting under tower

Six decades and hundreds of film and television scores later, award-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone premiered his first-ever Mass in the Church of the Gesu, the Jesuits' main church in Rome.A parishioner at the historic church in the city centre, Morricone composed the Mass to mark the

Most Americans—including people from every major religious group—predict gay marriage will be legalized nationwide when a hotly anticipated Supreme Court ruling is announced later this month. Among those who favor legalizing same-sex marriage, 80 percent think the high court will rule th

Francesco Cesareo, chair of the National Review Board, told bishops even though progress has been made, there is no room for complacency on abuse of minors.

A week before the anticipated release of Pope Francis' encyclical on human ecology and the environment, the U.S. bishops were urged to help Catholics hear and understand it.