VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To help the church grow in love and faithful witness to God, Pope Francis has declared the third Sunday in Ordinary Time to be dedicated to the word of God. Salvation, faith, unity and mercy all depend on knowing Christ and sacred Scripture, he said in …

GREEN BAY, Wis. (CNS) — As long as she can remember, Polly Olsen, 29, said she has handed out heart-shaped cards on Valentine’s Day. “Basically since I could walk, me and my siblings would distribute them at nursing homes and hospitals,” said Olsen. “My mom would dress us up fancy …

MEXICO CITY (CNS) — Three new dioceses have been carved out of the Archdiocese of Mexico, a move Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes of Mexico City said will bring pastors “closer to all the inhabitants.” The decision, announced Sept. 27, creates the dioceses of Azcapotzalco in northwest Mexico City; Iztapalapa, the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Barbara J. Fraser By Barbara J. Fraser LIMA, Peru (CNS) — The Amazon basin, with its hundreds of indigenous tribes, has been mission territory since the first Spanish and Portuguese priests set out in canoes along its rivers in the 17th century. As bishops and pastoral workers from …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Fordham University By Beth Griffin NEW YORK (CNS) — To those who ask why the Catholic Church seems to be "obsessed" with the poor, the Vatican’s secretary of state said, "The answer is simple. Because this is who we are." "Because taking care of the hungry, the thirsty, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Paige Hanley VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will highlight the important role of memory and storytelling across generations as a way to bring people together in a world marked by discord and division, the Vatican said. The pope believes that memory — far from …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians have a moral obligation to show God’s care for all those who are marginalized, especially migrants and refugees, Pope Francis said. "This loving care for the less privileged is presented as a characteristic trait of the God of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Ekaterina Anchevskaya, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Refugee advocates are opposed to the decision announced by the Trump administration Sept. 26 that it plans to admit no more than 18,000 refugees in the next fiscal year, the lowest number since the resettlement program was created in …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Jeffrey By Carol Glatz ROME (CNS) — It only takes an accurate, unbiased reading of the working document for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon to see its aim to find new ways to evangelize the region does not stray from church tradition or the teachings …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Rhina Guidos HATCH, N.M. (CNS) — A group of U.S. Catholic bishops, along with a Vatican representative and other priests, celebrated Mass Sept. 26 next to a field of chili peppers with farmworkers and their families and other immigrants. They blessed the workers’ hands. They …