Pope Francis is urging people of good will to fight the “folly of terrorism”, following Monday’s lorry attack on a Christmas market that left 12 people dead and a further 48 injured.
In a telegram sent on Tuesday to Archbishop Heiner Koch of Berlin by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Paro

The explosion happened at around 10:00 local time.
Interior minister Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar and Cairo's security chief both inspected the scene, according to local media.
Egypt's Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's population.
St Mark's Cathedral is the headquarters of the co

Vatican City: December 1, 2016. (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday greeted a delegation of faithful from the Apostolic Administration of the Caucuses who were in Rome to thank the Holy Father for his recent Apostolic Visit to Georgia.
Pope Francis told the delegation their visit brought him m

that while topics such as homosexuality and the ordination of women still constitute points of division, they are committed to working together in their pursuit of full unity.
“The declaration is a forward-looking commitment to doing everything we can together, and continuing to struggle without fe

in the Presidential Palace of Baku where he was received by the full Guard of Honor salute which is reserved for visiting dignitaries during the official Welcome Ceremony.
As per protocol, Pope Francis and President Aliyev then met for a private meeting behind closed doors.
President Ilham Aliyev,

together with a large group of Apostolic Nuncios who are in Rome for a major Jubilee Year of Mercy gathering.
In remarks following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father thanked the Papal diplomats for their willingness to renew their commitment to service in new and different countries with joy

In remarks ahead of the Marian prayer, the Holy Father greeted and thanked all those who took part in the day’s celebrations, especially those most closely attached to St Teresa.
He also thanked the various dignitaries in attendance, as well as the pilgrims who had come from all over the world.
Po

On Sept. 4, Mother Teresa will indeed be made a saint by Pope Francis at a ceremony at the Vatican. Hundreds of thousands from all corners of the world are expected to attend the event.
There has never been a question about whether Mother Teresa would become a saint, but when it would happen. The d

In the latest sign of Francis’ concern for the poor, the pope’s almoner — the Vatican official in charge of distributing alms — is treating homeless people in Rome to a trip to the beach and to a pizza dinner on the way back home.
“We continue, with the Swiss Guards and the gendarmes, to take food

“I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence,” the Pope told journalists during the July 31 papal flight to Rome following his apostolic journey to Poland. “This is not right and it is not true.”
“I don’t like to speak about Islamic violence,” the Pope said, taking into account tha

the site of a Nazi concentration and extermination camp where more than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were put to death during the Second World War.
Prior to his visit to the camp, the Pope decided he would not give a speech, saying he preferred to enter alone, in silent prayer. “I would like to

He spoke from the balcony of the Bishop's Palace, telling the thousands of youth gathered below not to be afraid, but to have faith and spread the joy that comes from following Christ.
Pope Francis is currently in Krakow for this July 27-31 trip to Poland for WYD. Every night when he comes back to

In a July 19 video message Pope Francis sent his greetings to the youth of Poland and the world who will attend the largest recurring gathering of youth in the Catholic Church.
“I look forward to meeting the young people from throughout the world gathered in Kraków and having the opportunity to mee

During the afternoon visit to the Porziuncola inside the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, the Pope will officially mark the 8th centenary of the event known as the “Pardon of Assisi.”
The papal trip to Assisi is being described as a private pilgrimage to the tiny chapel which St Francis built and

that killed tens of thousands of people and gave thanks “for all that has been rebuilt.”
In his Homily, the Pope offered three “stable foundations upon which we can tirelessly build and rebuild the Christian life.”
The first foundation, he said, is “memory:” to “recall what the Lord has done in an

The Pope will depart from Rome's Fiumicino airport at 2 p.m. and will arrive at the John Paul II airport of Balice-Krakow two hours later. After the welcome ceremony he will transfer to the Castle of Wawel, where he will address the civil authorities and diplomatic corps, followed by a courtesy visi

In remarks to the faithful following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father focused on the threefold theme of the dynamic unity in Christian life, the signs of which are living memory, the prophetic spirit, and the sure horizon of hope.
The Pope took as the central focus of his reflection the Gos

While he admitted that secular governments espousing a separation of Church and state have shown more success throughout history, the Pope also stressed that such policies must be strict in ensuring religious freedom for all.
“The right to conscientious objection must be recognized within each lega

The organization was founded in 1869 by a group of enthusiastic young men hailing from the upper social and economic crust of Rome, as a vehicle for demonstrating solidarity with Pope Pius IX in a politically fraught moment of history.
The organization very quickly grew into a major hub of good wor

Jinping’s speech came during the national conference on religion this month in Beijing. According to ChristianityToday.com, it was his first speech on religion since he took the top post in 2012.
In the speech, Xi mentioned possibly regulating religion with legislation. If that’s the case, Brent Fu

“It’s not automatic that whoever frequents the House of God and knows his mercy knows how to love their neighbor. It’s not automatic,” the Pope said April 27.
“You can know the bible, you can know all the liturgical norms, you can know theology, but ‘to know’ is not automatically ‘to love,’” he sai

The heart of Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood, with its picturesque cobbled streets and vine-covered walls, could not be farther from the asylum-seeker camp the Muslim families were living in just three days ago.
That was until the pope’s lightning trip to the Greek island of Lesbos on Saturday (Apri

Trump has been heavily criticized in the past for not providing a favorite Bible verse when asked, although he stated that the Bible was his favorite book.
Trump was recently given a second chance at providing a favorite Bible verse. ABC News reports that Trump was recently asked by conservative ra

This week’s catechesis of the Pope centred on the Gospel account of Jesus calling St Matthew – a tax collector and a sinner – to be his disciple.
He said that by eating with the tax collectors and sinners, Jesus shows how even they can become disciples.
“Like the tax collector Matthew, every one o

The lengthy document, entitled ‘Amoris Laetitia’, or The Joy of Love, affirms the Church’s teaching that stable families are the building blocks of a healthy society and a place where children learn to love, respect and interact with others.
At the same time the text warns against idealizing the ma

Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, was taken by Islamist gunmen, reportedly linked to ISIS, who attacked an old people’s home in Aden, southern Yemen, killing at least 15 people, on March 4.
The terrorists reportedly carried out the heinous murder on Good Friday, after threatening to do so earlier in th

The attack on Sunday evening in a busy park in the eastern city of Lahore, the powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, killed mostly women and children enjoying an Easter weekend outing. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim state but has a Christian population of more than 2 million.
It was the deadlies

followed by the traditional Benedictio urbi et orbi – the “Blessing of the City and the World”.
Delivered from the central loggia – the balcony set in the middle of the upper level of the façade of St. Pater’s Basilica – the Holy Father’s remarks on the occasion focused on Christ’s perfect triumph

UnitedwithIsrael.org reports that the Jewish Agency for Israel has rescued about 200 Jews from Yemen in recent years.
The most recent rescue involved 19 Jews; 14 from the town of Raydah and a family of five from Sana’a.
The group arriving in Israel from Raydah included a rabbi who brought with hi

The airport confirmed it will remain closed on Thursday and there is no set date for reopening.
It issued a statement which read: "Because the forensic investigation is still under way we currently have no access to the building. Until we can assess the damage, it remains unclear when we can resume

The decision has been long-anticipated, and it is expected that Pope Francis will sign a decree approving her canonization and set a date for the official event.
A previously-scheduled ceremony to honor Mother Teresa has been set for September 5, so it is thought that the canonization will take pla

Open Doors USA estimates there are about 450,000 practicing Christians in Iran. Others estimate more than 1 million.
According to Fox News, The Pars Theological Center is training some 200 Iranian Christians to become the next generation of Iran’s Christian leaders.
"Pars sees this as a real chanc

ethnic Fulani cattle herders, largely Muslim, moving in on farmers, largely Christian. The long-running land conflict frequently is framed in economic terms, but it also has distinctive religious contours. Survivors quoted by Christian-rights advocates said the attackers specifically targeted Christ

Qadri had filed a mercy plea before President Mamnoon Hussain after Supreme Court maintained his conviction in October last year. Rumours started pouring in earlier today as his supporters started Twitter trend to call for protest against his expected hanging.

“Even a criminal has the inviolable right to life, a gift of God," Francis said during a speech marking the Year of Mercy at the Vatican.
"This issue has to be considered within the perspective of a penal justice, which is more and more in compliance with human dignity and God's plan for humanity a

Lombardi told Vatican Radio that the pope's comments, made to reporters during a flight back from Mexico in response to a specific question on Trump, were simply an affirmation of his long-standing belief that migrants should be helped rather than shut off behind walls.
"In no way was this a person

people in Mexico's gang-infested heartland on Tuesday to shun the lure of easy money and big cars offered by drug traffickers.
Gang wars over the methamphetamine trade have torn the western state of Michoacan apart. Widespread kidnapping and extortion by gangs have sparked an uprising by vigilante

President Enrique Pena Nieto greeted him at the capital's airport along with a mariachi band and a huge crowd, hours after Francis held a historic meeting in Cuba with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
From the US border to the indigenous south, Pope Francis will visit some of the poorest an

Before the Mass begins, however, Francis is expected to walk to the edge of the Rio Grande, the river that separates the two nations, kneel, and pray for the more than 6,000 people who lost their lives trying to cross the border in the past 15 years.
Across the river in El Paso will be a group of a

The men met for 40 minutes and at the conclusion of the meeting Pope Francis said, “I thank you very much for this visit. I have high hopes in peace”, according to Catholic News Service.
In response, President Rouhani asked the Ponitff to pray for him, said it was a pleasure to meet him and wished

At least 21 people died when gunmen armed with grenades and Kalashnikovs attacked a university in Pakistan Wednesday, with all four attackers killed by security forces who moved in under thick fog to halt the bloodshed.
The assault was claimed by a Pakistani Taliban faction but branded "un-Islamic"

The Christian Post reports that the U.S. State Department’s Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, David Saperstein, denied that labeling the Islamic State’s atrocities against Christians as “genocide” will make a difference in how the U.S. is dealing with the Islamic State’s actions.
"Had

According to an opinion piece by Todd Starnes, writing for Charisma News, Graham has launched an initiative called the “Decision America Tour,” which is a series of prayer rallies at capitol buildings all over the nation.
Graham has stressed that America is in trouble, and neither Democrats nor Rep

“sincere dialogue between men and women of different religions may yield fruits of peace and justice”.
For the first time the Pope’s traditional monthly prayer intention is available on video, thanks to a new initiative launched by the worldwide Apostleship of Prayer.
The video-message is in Spani