NATION/WORLD

WASHINGTON (CNA/EWTN News) — A virtual brouhaha erupted Thursday after Pope Francis said in unscripted remarks that “the great majority” of marriages today are null, due to a “provisional” culture in which people do not understand permanent commitment.

Through Aug. 28, participants will receive weekly email messages that feature a Gospel passage paired with interactive content including activities and "Catholic Questions" that can be shared with friends and family.

Dioceses across the U.S. plus efforts abroad are making churches more eco-friendly following last year's encyclical on "Care for Our Common Home."

"The crisis of marriage is because people do not know what the sacrament is, the beauty of the sacrament; they do not know that it is indissoluble, that it is for one's entire life," he said. "It's difficult."

"We come not as different religions but one in the Lord," said the Orlando Bishop said at an interfaith prayer vigil. Others in Florida and Texas allowed mourners to pray for Orlando in a special way and recognize the dignity of all people as children of God.

It is right and just to ensure all children receive religious education and access to the sacraments, said a priest who was born deaf and became blind 16 years ago.

Leon Celemencki, 76, who is Jewish and survived the Holocaust as a child, tells World Youth Day participants from Quebec, about how he lost his family during World War II.

"What really matters in life is prayer, living right, and good deeds, because this life is just practice for our eternal life," the heavyweight champion wrote in his memoir.

Deacons are called to be servants who set aside their own self-serving plans and are generous with their lives, Pope Francis said.

Phoenix deacons are among those in Rome May 27-29 for the Jubilee for Deacons during the Year of Mercy.