The pope’s letter, titled "Totum Amoris Est" ("Everything Pertains to Love"), said that the saint has much to teach the church today.

A Reflection for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, by Simcha Fisher

The emeritus pope Benedict XVI has suffered a decline in health, Pope Francis said today at the end of his general audience. He asked for prayers for the 95-year-old former pontiff.

In a candid account of his five decades in the Salvadoran church, the country’s first cardinal tells of calumnies against El Salvador’s St. Oscar Romero, but also of slights against him by other prelates.

In his Christmas message, he offered special greetings to “our soldiers at the front,” to civilians and soldiers who have been wounded and to all those mourning the loss of loved ones.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s message inviting people to pay less attention to presents and more to prayer,.