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Prayers, care for sick are common ground for believers, pope says
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Praying for a loved one’s health and healing, tenderly caring for them and asking very human questions about why people suffer are experiences Christians, Muslims and Jews all share, Pope Francis said. In his message for the World Day …
‘Simple, not silly’: Children’s questions become book by Pope Francis
IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Loyola Press By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Children may say the darnedest things, but when it comes to questions about faith they can make even the most learned parents and priests pause. “These are tough,” Pope Francis said when presented with questions from 30 children …
Follow example of Pope Francis, church leaders say at eucharistic congress
IMAGE: CNS photo/Jay Rommel Labra, EPA By Simone Orendain CEBU, Philippines (CNS) — Two Asian church leaders urged participants in the 51st International Eucharistic Congress to follow the example of Pope Francis, working to reach people on the periphery. The pope’s envoy to the congress, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, …
Muslim leaders reiterate support for minority rights in Islamic nations
IMAGE: CNS photo/Azure Agency By MARRAKESH, Morocco (CNS) — Muslim leaders from around the world adopted a declaration defending the rights of religious minorities in predominantly Muslim countries. Participants said the Marrakesh Declaration, developed during a Jan. 25-27 conference, was based on the Medina Charter, a constitutional contract between the …
Heavenly mysteries: Questions of faith, science intersect at astronomy workshop
By Dennis Sadowski TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) — Every time Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno looks through a telescope at a deep sky object or examines a piece of a 4-billion-year-old meteorite that found its way to Earth, he says he’s exploring a mystery that spans both science and faith. Not that …
Priests find comfort that in studying the universe, they come closer to God
By Dennis Sadowski TUCSON, Ariz. (CNS) — For a long time, Father Timothy Martinez felt alone. Not so much in his priesthood and his responsibilities as pastor of Risen Savior Parish in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but because of his passion for astronomy and his concern about the media-driven divide between …
Pope: Patch up family feuds, forgive, let go of painful past
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Let the Year of Mercy be the time to end all family feuds, to forgive each other and let bygones be bygones, Pope Francis said. “I think about so many brothers and sisters who are estranged from their families; they …
Pro-life pilgrims stuck on highway in snow find fellowship, blessings
By Jessica Trygstad ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — Catholic youths from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were among those stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike overnight on the way home from the annual March for Life in Washington. And they had stories to tell that include attending an impromptu …
Pope tells Iran’s president he has ‘high hopes’ for peace
IMAGE: CNS photo/Andrew Medichini, pool By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the Vatican, Pope Francis told him he had high hopes for peace. And while Pope Francis usually asks those he meets for their prayers, the Shiite cleric pre-empted the pope’s request …
Pope: Live your faith during Lent, perform works of mercy
By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one’s faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said. “Faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help our neighbors in body and …