IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ROME (CNS) — The Catholic Church has grown in its understanding of the horror of clerical sexual abuse and of the “corruption” of covering it up, Pope Francis said. Returning to Rome from a trip Sept. 22-25 to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/CBS Entertainment By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Television audiences may recall seeing actor Joe Morton as Eli Rowan Pope, the father of professional Washington fixer Olivia Pope, on the hit series “Scandal.” With “Scandal” having ended last season, Morton was left with nothing to do. But a …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden TALLINN, Estonia (CNS) — In what is probably the least religious country in Europe, Pope Francis said he is surprised by how many people hold firm to their faith despite all the sexual abuse and financial scandals in the Catholic Church. “We know …

By Norma Montenegro Flynn GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) — Hispanic Catholic leaders are living an important moment in the history of the Catholic church in the U.S. and are called to rise and continue the work of building the church, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said Sept. 23. He made …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNS) — Outside the former KGB headquarters in Vilnius, Pope Francis ended a day of paying homage to victims of totalitarianism and of warning Lithuanians to be attentive to any signs of anti-Semitism or hatred. The walls of the KGB building …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNS) — Meeting young Lithuanians in Vilnius, Pope Francis said he wanted a relaxed conversation, like they were sitting in a pub drinking “a beer or a gira,” a slightly alcoholic beverage made from fermented rye bread. Yet the stories two …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Wu Hong, EPA By Cindy Wooden VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNS) — For the first time in decades, all of the Catholic bishops in China are in full communion with the pope, the Vatican announced. Pope Francis lifted the excommunications or irregular status of seven bishops who had been ordained …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNS) — In Lithuania, a nation that experienced invasions, atrocities and persecution, Pope Francis began his visit with a plea to break down walls of suspicion and fear. “If we look at the world scene in our time, more and more …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Norma Montenegro Flynn GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) — Quoting from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” Archbishop Christophe Pierre encouraged Hispanic Catholic leaders and bishops to continue working toward being an evangelizing church by seeking an encounter with Christ and taking initiative while …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Norma Montenegro Flynn GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) — A video message from Pope Francis and a procession of Encuentro crosses representing all of the participating episcopal regions were the highlights during the first day of the National Fifth Encuentro gathering taking place Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine. …