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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The church is not a prop for one’s ego, a soapbox for ideas or a suit of armor protecting a sad life, Pope Francis said. “The church exists only as an instrument for communicating God’s merciful plan to the people,” …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics will forgive their priests for almost any weakness, but not for an exaggerated attachment to money or for mistreating parishioners, Pope Francis told 160 priests who work in Vatican nunciatures around the world. “The people of God have a …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Sam Lucero, The Compass By Sam Lucero REDGRANITE, Wis. (CNS) — Behind a makeshift altar standing in the shadows of a basketball hoop, Bishop David L. Ricken celebrated Mass in a gymnasium that could have been mistaken for any Catholic school gym in the Diocese of Green Bay. …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Being created a cardinal in the Year of Mercy brings with it an obligation to continue to proclaim and share God’s mercy with others, said Cardinal-designate Joseph W. Tobin. The current archbishop of Indianapolis, who will be installed as archbishop of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bassam Khabieh, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Where there is no tenderness, there is cruelty and what is unfolding in Syria is a veritable “workshop of cruelty,” Pope Francis told governing members of Caritas Internationalis. “I believe the greatest illness of today is cardiac sclerosis,” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Rhina Guidos BALTIMORE (CNS) — The Catholic Church is one of the most culturally diverse institutions in the United States and Catholic institutions and ministries need to adapt and prepare for growing diversity, said a report presented to the country’s bishops Nov. 15. The report, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal-designate Kevin J. Farrell believes the U.S. bishops as a whole should have discussed pastoral guidelines for implementing Pope Francis’ exhortation on the family before individual bishops began issuing guidelines for their own dioceses. Implementing the pope’s exhortation, “Amoris …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Carol Zimmermann BALTIMORE (CNS) — Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said his election as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 15 may have had more to do with his archdiocese than anything else. “I’m grateful to my brother bishops for …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Jeffrey Bruno, EWTN By Dennis Sadowski BALTIMORE (CNS) — Maronite Bishop Gregory J. Mansour called on the bishops of the United States to bring wider attention to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East to their parishes and political leaders. Addressing the fall general assembly of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Offering counsel and admonishing sinners are works of mercy, but they are not a license to pretend to be better than others, Pope Francis said. To counsel others is a chance to see how well you, too, measure …