NATION/WORLD

Although the feast of Pentecost, celebrated June 8, doesn't look as it did in the apostles' time — with the roar of wind and tongues of fire — Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl said it serves as a reminder of the outpouring of God's spirit long ago and continuously.

A "globalization of indifference" has taken hold of too many of the world's people, numbing them to the horrifying reality faced by the people of Syria and other innocent victims of war and violence around the world, Pope Francis said.

Portland Archbishop Alexander K. Sample confirmed one of Oregon's most infamous prisoners May 28 in a heavily guarded private ceremony in the maximum security prison in Salem.

A Catholic bishop in eastern Ukraine said church members are afraid to attend Mass in Donetsk and other towns after a priest from Poland was abducted by pro-Russia separatists. The priest traveled to Ukraine to renew his Kazakh visa.

Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters May 26.

Pope Francis answered several questions during an in-flight news conference about his three-day visit, giving reporters insights into his thinking and glimpses behind the scenes of the high-profile events.

Nearly 1,000 years after the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, their respective leaders embraced and prayed inside Christendom’s most revered site, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, May 25.

The leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics arrived in this ancient city May 25 to find buildings bedecked with papal flags and huge banners proclaiming “Welcome to the Holy Land, Pope Francis!”

Memorial Day, the traditional kickoff of summer marked by family getaways, cookouts, picnics and parades, also includes somber events the day was created for such as wreath-laying ceremonies, prayer services and visits to war memorials. A few miles from the major war memorials, two Vietnam veterans at the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home, planned to mark the holiday without any fanfare.

Pope Francis invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to pray together at the Vatican for peace between their nations.