Children dressed as angels carry candles as they attend Christmas Mass at a Catholic church in Beijing Dec. 24. CNS photo/Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters ...read more

Navy Reserve Petty Officer Jesus Benitez talks with his son, Maddox, after surprising him and his sister, Mia, at St. Joan of Arc School in Aberdeen, Md., Dec. 18, 2014. His children did not know he was able to come home for the holidays. Benitez is in the middle of a yearlong deployment in Djibouti, ...read more

What a time to be alive! Pope Francis has just concluded an intense three-week meeting with his brother bishops and cardinals and the whole world is abuzz! Officially, it was called the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary ...read more

From October 4 – October 25, 2015, Pope Francis led the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary World. During the last week of the Synod of Bishops, Lino Rulli broadcasted his Catholic Guy radio show from Rome featuring special guest ...read more

The 2015 Synod of Bishops on the Family concluded on Sunday with Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.  On Saturday, the relatio finale (final document) of the Synod was approved and given to Pope Francis.  Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia has been keeping a blog throughout the three-week journey, and in his final post he ...read more

Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass being offered on Sunday morning, the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, to mark the close of the XIV Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, who have been gathered in Rome for the past three weeks to reflect on and discuss the vocation and mission of the family ...read more

Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ discourse at the conclusion of the Synod of Bishops on the Family in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall this afternoon: Dear Beatitudes, Eminences and Excellencies, Dear Brothers and Sisters, I would like first of all to thank the Lord, who has guided our synodal process in these ...read more

The three week Synod on the family is finally over, but the homestretch did not come without some drama: an Italian newspaper, Quotiando Nazione, reported that Pope Francis has a small, benign brain tumour. Cue the denials and conspiracy theories. Pope Francis provided his own plot twist, taking the floor on Thursday afternoon to announce ...read more

Cardinal Wilfred Napier and Archbishop Mark Coleridge speak about the issues being discussed at the Synod, we hear from the representative of the Anglican Communion on his experience at the Synod, we sit down with Fr. Thomas Rosica to discuss media coverage of the Synod and lastly we talk to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. ...read more

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis Mass of the Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Canonization of Four Saints Sunday October 18, 2015 On Sunday, October 18, 2015, Pope Francis celebrated the Canonization Mass of four Saints: Saint Vincent Grossi, Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception and Saints Louis Martin and Marie-Azélie Guérin. Read the full text of his ...read more