By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service SANTIAGO, Cuba — In one of the calmer, more intimate moments of his visit to Cuba, Pope Francis and the country’s bishops offered special prayers to the Cuba’s patroness, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. The prayer Sept. 21 at the Shrine of …

Catholic News Service Although it was not part of his formal program, Pope Francis took time after Sunday Mass to visit Cuba’s ailing former leader, Fidel Castro. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that after the Mass Sept. 20 in Havana’s Revolution Square, Pope Francis was driven to the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service HAVANA — As Cubans finally face the prospects of calmer relationships and greater ease of communication and commerce with the United States, Pope Francis told the Cuban people that love and service, not anyone’s ideology, are the keys to their happiness. “We do not serve …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service HAVANA — Pope Francis began his visit to Cuba praying for greater freedom for the island’s people and calling on U.S. and Cuban politicians to continue moving toward fully normal and neighborly relations. Meeting President Raul Castro and speaking before a small crowd at …

Editor’s Note: The pope’s U.S. visit, his historic speech to Congress and his appearance at the Conference on Families in Philadelphia will be covered Sept. 22-29 by Sister Eileen Connelly OSU, news editor of The Catholic Telegraph, and Menachem Wecker, a Washington-based freelance journalist who reports on religion topics. By …

By Elise Harris CNA/EWTN News On the eve of his arrival to Cuba Pope Francis sent a video message to the small island nation, expressing his desire to be a witness of God’s mercy in the country, and to encourage locals to do the same. “I want to be among …

By John Stegeman Catholic News Service CINCINNATI (CNS) — When Pope Francis becomes the first pope to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Sept. 24, many will be watching on television or online. In downtown Cincinnati, residents, workers and tourists will be able to watch on a 30.5-by-42.5-foot …

Staff Report Every game counts in Ohio for teams hoping to make the playoffs, but the real battles begin in conference play. The GCL Co-Ed division starts conference play tonight and four of the league’s undefeated teams will face each other. Here are the standings through week three with week four’s opponents listed. For …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Arriving in the United States from Cuba, Pope Francis “will enter as a migrant” as millions of people have done before him, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. The cardinal, who will accompany the pope on his Sept. 19-27 visits to Cuba, …

Staff Report When Pope Francis lands in America next week, he will be just the fourth pontiff to visit the nation. All eyes of the world will follow Pope Francis from Rome, to Cuba, and finally to the US of A where he has a loaded schedule. With that in mind, …