By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Praying for peace in the Holy Land alongside leaders of long-antagonistic nations, Pope Francis called on God to act where human efforts had failed, to end what he described as violence inspired by the devil.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM TEL AVIV — Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters May 26. During a wide-ranging inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Asking prayers for his May 24-26 trip to the Holy Land, Pope Francis said his visit to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories would be “strictly religious.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The season of Lent, as a journey with Christ towards the Cross the Resurrection, always reawakens our sense of solidarity with our sisters and brothers living in the holy Land. It was there that the Apostles first heard the voice of the Lord Jesus, …