NEWS

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a world filled with challenges to marriage and family life, the Catholic Church is called “to carry out her mission in fidelity, truth and love,” Pope Francis said at the Mass opening the world Synod of Bishops on the family.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world Synod of Bishops on the Family is not a parliament where participants will negotiate or lobby, Pope Francis said, but it must be a place of prayer where bishops speak with courage and open themselves to “God who always surprises us.”

The Catholic community is mourning the loss of a diocesan student turned Sister of Mercy who dedicated her life to nursing and social work.

Marking the day's memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, the pope's homily focused on these angels, saying they were "like an ambassador of God."

There continues to be debates about the conditions and limits to be set for the reception of migrants, not only on the level of national policies, but also in some parish communities, whose traditional tranquility seems to be threatened, Pope Francis said.

Catholic men must reclaim and life the virtue of Christian of masculinity, says Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted in his apostolic exhortation, “Into the Breach.”

NASA scientists confirmed that liquid water flows, at least during the summer months, on the surface of Mars.

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Marita Thomas was among those in the crowd at the Festival of Families Sept. 26 who were moved to tears as they listened to families selected to come onstage to tell Pope Francis how they coped with hardship by clinging to God.

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Christian families in the Holy Land bear their daily suffering with hope, knowing that the cross is the cost of following Christ, said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem.

The Sistine Chapel Choir, made up of 20 men and 30 boys, released a 16-track album featuring Gregorian chant, Renaissance pieces and a world premiere recording found archived since 1661 in the Vatican Library.