Faith

Ten days after saying he would name two women to the group that helps him choose bishops, Pope Francis appointed three women to the office.

Pope Francis expressed his solidarity and closeness with Catholics in Nigeria after gunmen stormed a church and reportedly killed at least 50 people during a Pentecost Mass.

Frs. Casey Cole and Roberto “Tito” Serrano, both Franciscan friars, met in their second year of formation and bonded over their love of baseball and their Franciscan vocations.

Greg Jones has a clear idea when his life changed. It was not in 1998, when he went to prison, or 2007, when he was paroled on a manslaughter charge.

For many people in Rome, Pope Francis' decision to schedule a consistory to create new cardinals in August was more surprising than the men he chose to receive the red hat.

For more than 20 years, world religion teachers and interfaith leaders around the world have been using the Golden Rule poster as an entry point for discussions on faith and unity.

Warning that the Russian Orthodox patriarch should not "turn himself into Putin's altar boy," Pope Francis also said he would like to go to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Pope Francis asked his safeguarding commission to provide an annual audit of what the church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change, as well as to urge bishops' conferences to set up special "centers" where victims can be heard and find accompaniment toward "healing and justice."

In an Easter message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would "transform our hearts and make us true peacemakers, especially for war-torn Ukraine."

The joy of Christ's resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.