FEATURED

HAVANA (CNS) — At long last, Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow embraced, kissing each other three times. “Finally,” the pope told the patriarch Feb. 12 as they met in a lounge at Havana’s José Martí International Airport. “We are brothers,” he told the patriarch.

Making his 12th trip abroad didn't prepare Pope Francis for requests and gifts while en route to Mexico via Cuba Feb. 12

Christ calls every person to a special mission, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted told Massgoers who often find themselves praying in front of abortion clinics.

The reassuring strength of God's love — not the "bludgeon of judgment" — will bring the "lost sheep" back to the fold, Pope Francis told his newly appointed "missionaries of mercy."

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CNS) — Saying the future of the pro-life movement is “cultural not political,” Archbishop José H. Gómez of Los Angeles called upon Catholic Latinos to work toward a “new Christian humanism, a new vision of society and human destiny that is rooted in the Gospel.”

A former Diocese of Phoenix athlete, who punted for the 2007-08 Super Bowl champs, earned the diocese a spot in the first Super Bowl High School Honor Roll.

Students from more than 30 Catholic schools in three dioceses across Arizona converged in one spot for a statewide field trip. They filled the concrete circle at Wesley Bolin Plaza Feb. 3 for the annual Catholic Schools Week rally. Their physical presence and youthful energy represented more than 21,000 Catholic school students throughout the Grand Canyon state eager to affirm their role in a Catholic school and the need for a faithful community to support it.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After almost three decades of tense Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations, Pope Francis will meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Feb. 12 in Cuba on the pope’s way to Mexico. It will be the first-ever meeting of a pope and Moscow patriarch, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 5.

Students require quite a few supplies before entering a learning environment. Fortunately, their toolbox — their mind — is within reach.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — An encounter with Jesus changes people’s lives, and that should be especially noticeable in those who are consecrated completely to serving God, the Church and others, Pope Francis said.