By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis “snuck” out of the Vatican Aug. 9 for a drive, a walk in the woods and lunch with an Italian bishop at a small convent. Long after the pope had returned to the Vatican from two small towns near Rieti — …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God’s mercy is infectious and must be shared with others, Pope Francis said. Mercy is “a journey that departs from the heart to arrive at the hands,” the pope said Aug. 10 at his weekly general audience. In …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Stephanie Lecocq, EPA By Dale Gavlak AINKAWA, Iraq (CNS) — Iraqi Christians appear divided about whether they will be able to return home after Islamic State militants are flushed out of the battle-scarred Ninevah Plains region. They say their safety must be guaranteed at all costs. “If the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Piyal Adhikary, EPA By Saadia Azim KOLKATA, India (CNS) — A group of young independent photographers are busy clicking away, taking photos of the “City of Joy.” Their photos, part of the crowdsourced “Sainthood Project,” will be displayed in several locations in Rome in early September, to coincide …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Leslie E. Kossoff By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Practicing patience can be a great virtue, said Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry of Chicago in his homily at the Aug. 7 closing Mass of the African National Eucharistic Congress in Washington. “What greater school for patience is there …

By Michael Kelly DUBLIN (CNS) — Bishop Edward Daly of Derry, known for his tireless advocacy for peace and reconciliation during decades of sectarian tension in Northern Ireland, died in a hospital in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Aug. 8. Bishop Daly, who retired in 1993 due to ill health after suffering …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Leonardo Munoz, EPA By Tom Tracy WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CNS) — With a growing number of U.S. travelers returning from abroad with the Zika virus and with several cases of Zika-related microcephaly and birth defects reported in the U.S., the disease has inflamed the abortion debate domestically. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kai Pfaffenbach, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a personal message addressed to each of the 10 members of the new Refugee Olympic Team, Pope Francis wished them success in their events and thanked them for the witness they are giving the world. Naming each …

IMAGE: CNS photo James Lawler Duggan, Reuters By SILVER SPRING, Md. (CNS) — More than 5,600 U.S. religious sisters have signed a letter asking for civil discourse in the presidential campaign. The letter was to be sent Aug. 8 to the candidates of the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties …

By WASHINGTON (CNS) — By officiating at a same-sex wedding, Vice President Joe Biden as a prominent Catholic politician has created confusion over church teaching on marriage and “the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics,” three U.S. bishops said Aug. 5. “Questions revolving around marriage and human sexuality are deeply felt …