IMAGE: CNS photo/TaodueFilm, distributed by Medusa By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The usual fanfare that comes with the world premiere of a movie is pretty standard: the lights and cameras, the celebrities walking down the red carpet and screaming fans trying to catch a glimpse of their favorite actors. At …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Missionary spirit is manifested by preaching love, humanity and faith through one’s witness and not through proselytism, Pope Francis said. Faith in Jesus Christ is shared first through “witness then with words,” the pope said Dec. 2 at his weekly …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Archdiocese of Agana By Tony C. Diaz ALTAMONT, N.Y. (CNS) — Father Joseph Girzone, who became far more prominent in retirement than during active ministry because of his “Joshua” series of novels, died Nov. 29 at St. Peter’s Hospice Inn in in Altamont. He was 85. A …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Simon Caldwell By Simon Caldwell BURNLEY, England (CNS) — A diocese in England is using a double-decker bus as a venue for priests to hear the confessions of people who have stopped going to church. The Mercy Bus is touring the Diocese of Salford during Lent in an …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said he was consoled by Pope Francis’ words of understanding and tenderness after he expressed the disappointment of Ukrainians with a joint declaration signed by the pope and the Russian Orthodox patriarch. The pope’s …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Heads of state discussing carbon emission limits must create a global and “transformative” agreement built on justice, solidarity and fairness, a papal representative told the U.N. climate conference in Paris. Pope Francis has said “it would be tragic” if special interests “manipulated information” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Angelo Carconi, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For a Christian, talk is cheap; the faith requires concretely doing God’s will and serving the least as well as those around you, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass. “God is concrete” and so is the Christian …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Denis Grasska, The Southern Cross By Denis Grasska SAN DIEGO (CNS) — San Diego Bishop Robert W. McElroy is challenging U.S. Catholics to take an active role in combating “the scourge of anti-Islamic prejudice.” “We are witnessing in the United States a new nativism, which the American Catholic …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Joyce Duriga ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM AFRICA (CNS) — Pope Francis told reporters he is well aware that God is a god of surprises, but he had not been prepared for what a surprise his first visit to Africa would be. Obviously tired, but equally …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Simone Orendain By John Mulderig PARIS (CNS) — Hundreds of thousands of people in at least 150 countries around the world demanded action on climate change on the eve of a U.N. conference that aimed to find agreement on greenhouse gas emissions. Heads of state traveled to Paris …