Pope Francis urged prayers and assistance for the Philippines on Nov. 10 and made an initial donation of $150,000 for Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts. • A mortar round hit the apostolic nunciature in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Nov. 5, causing limited damage to the building but no casualties

Iran’s President Hassan Rohani has informally begun a dialogue between the Islamic and Christian worlds. He expressed hope for an alliance between Iran and the Holy See regarding major issues that shake humanity, like the fight against radicalism, injustice and poverty. Rohani’s appeal w

The economic recovery plods on, but the U.S. poverty level hasn’t budged in years.

The death toll from Typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 10 was 1,200 and was rising quickly. Some feared as many as 10,000 people may have been killed when the historic “super typhoon” barreled across the central Philippines on Nov. 8. As the storm blasted across the island, national and internationa

The pope will create his first cardinals during a consistory on Feb. 22.

Pope Francis is the fourth most powerful person in the world, according to Forbes, which ranks him immediately after the presidents of Russia, the United States and China. • Commissioned by the Irish Association of Catholic Priests, a critical review of the Irish government’s investi

“Corruption is theft from the poor,” warn the Bishops of the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference in a pastoral letter released on Oct. 16. Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town said the issue is especially poignant in a region as poor as southern Africa. “Money diver

The Syrian Christian town of Sadad was taken over by Islamist militias in mid-October, then re-conquered by the Syrian army on Oct. 28. What the army discovered “is the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half,” said Archbishop Selwanos Bo

Bishops around the world are being asked to examine the situation of families under their care.

‘It’s almost as if we’re in a sort of civil war,” the Rev. Andres Larios, pastor at St. James the Apostle Parish said, somberly assessing the increasing lawlessness which afflicts his community. Some in his village of Coalcomán in Mexico’s western Michoacán State have