IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Men and women contemplating a vocation to the priesthood, consecrated life or marriage should not be afraid because God wants only for them to experience the joy that comes from serving others, Pope Francis said. “Our slowness …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Advent is a time to be watchful and alert to the ways one strays from God’s path, but also to signs of his presence in other people and in the beauty of the world, Pope Francis said. Reciting the Angelus prayer Dec. 3, …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BANGLADESH (CNS) — The Cold War policy of nuclear deterrence appears morally unacceptable today, Pope Francis said. St. John Paul II, in a 1982 message to the U.N. General Assembly, said deterrence “may still be judged morally acceptable” as …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BANGLADESH (CNS) — Well aware he was disappointing some people by not using the word “Rohingya” publicly in Myanmar, Pope Francis said his chief concern had been to get a point across, and he did. “If I would have …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemit By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — During the weeks before Christmas, Catholic churches stand out for what they are missing. Unlike stores, malls, public buildings and homes that start gearing up for Christmas at least by Thanksgiving, churches appear almost stark save for Advent wreaths …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Abir Abdullah, EPA By Cindy Wooden DHAKA, Bangladesh (CNS) — The themes chosen by the local bishops for Pope Francis’ visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh — “Love and peace” and “Harmony and peace” — sounded naive or just too “nicey-nice” to some people. But when love, peace and …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden DHAKA, Bangladesh (CNS) — Each human being is created in the image and likeness of God, yet so often people desecrate that image with violence as seen in the treatment of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority, Pope Francis said. “Today, the presence of God is also …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden DHAKA, Bangladesh (CNS) — The government and people of Bangladesh have shown exemplary generosity in welcoming hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, despite great demands placed on already limited resources, Pope Francis said. Arriving in Bangladesh from Myanmar Nov. 30, Pope Francis …

WASHINGTON — The Archdiocese of Washington filed suit in federal court Nov. 28 over the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s advertising guidelines after the transit system rejected an Advent and Christmas advertisement. The archdiocese seeks injunctive relief after WMATA, as the agency is known, refused to allow an ad promoting …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden YANGON, Myanmar (CNS) — Before ending his visit to Myanmar, Pope Francis turned to the nation’s young Catholics, urging them to pursue lives of faith, hope and love. Celebrating Mass Nov. 30 in Yangon’s St. Mary’s Cathedral, the pope asked the youths to serve …