Synod fathers ask: Does the Church need to watch its language?
In official reports of the closed-door talks at the Synod of Bishops on the family, an emerging theme has been the call for a new kind of language more appropriate for pastoral care today.
Synod auditors: ‘Green’ family planning [VIDEO]
Alice and Jeff Heinzen, a lay couple participating in the synod on the family, discuss the importance of Natural Family Planning to the church's teaching on the family.
Because of Ebola crisis, people ‘can’t even go to church,’ says priest
Father McDonald Nah is praying that the people of Liberia are just as resilient with the Ebola outbreak as they were following the country's civil war more than a decade ago.
Pope recalls another key anniversary in his life: his first Communion
Unable to resist telling the world about a personal event that is dear to his heart, Pope Francis said that 70 years ago to the day, he celebrated his first Communion.
Debate emerges on St. John Paul II’s early writings on social ethics
Less than six months after St John Paul II was canonized, questions are being raised about a book of lectures he penned as a young priest in his Polish homeland.
Pope tells bishops at family synod to speak fearlessly, listen humbly
Pope Francis opened the first working session of an extraordinary Synod of Bishops Oct. 6, urging participants to speak fearlessly and listen humbly during two weeks of discussion of the "pastoral challenges of the family."
Opening family synod, pope warns bishops of hypocrisy, pride and greed
Opening a two-week Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis warned participants against the temptations of hypocrisy, pride and greed, urging them instead to serve the church with "freedom, creativity and hard work."
On eve of family synod, pope prays for ‘open and fraternal’ debate
Hours before opening a Synod of Bishops whose members have already started a public debate over Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality, Pope Francis prayed the bishops would express themselves and listen to each other openly, trusting in God to reconcile their differences.
Cardinal Kasper: Pope wants bishops to decide on Communion proposal
The author of a controversial proposal to make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion says he believes Pope Francis backs the measure but would not apply it without support from bishops at two upcoming synods on the family.
Pope: Greed, throwaway culture fuel ‘hidden euthanasia’ of elderly
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis warned against the abandonment and neglect of the elderly, calling it a "hidden euthanasia" rooted in today's "poisonous" culture of disposal and an economic system of greed.
In the presence of his predecessor, Pope Francis also thanked retired Pope Benedict XVI for staying to live at the Vatican and being like "a wise grandfather at home."
