The importance of human dignity was at the heart of Pope Francis’ first trip to the U.S., Greg Daly observes

Leading US congressman Chris Smith will be the keynote speaker at the Pro Life Campaign’s National Conference this weekend. The New Jersey politician has been a member of the US House of Representatives since 1981, and as well as being a prominent opponent of abortion has been a leading voice for human rights at home…

Pope Francis has called the cover-up of abuse by bishops a “terrible thing”, explaining that this was why he had earlier in Philadelphia said that “the crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret”, pledging “the promise of accountability for all”. The Pope was speaking during an…

An ecumenical pilgrimage of Catholics, Anglicans, and other Christians by the border between North and South Korea has prayed for peace and reconciliation on the divided peninsula. The pilgrimage, organised by the Taizé Community, celebrated vespers at Paju’s Church of Repentance and Atonement near Panmunjeom, the village on the 38th parallel where the 1953 Korean…

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, head of the Pontifical Council for the Family, has been dropped from a criminal investigation. An Italian investigating judge has ruled that the Vatican’s lead organiser of Philadelphia’s World Meeting of Families had been “completely un-involved” in a scheme to buy and then profit from the sale of a 14th-century Italian castle.…

The Melkite Archbishop of Aleppo has described the exodus of Christians from the Middle East as apparently “apocalyptic and fatal”. Insisting that he remains confident because of his trust in God’s promises, Metropolitan Jean-Clément Jeanbart described the “exodus of Christians” as “a form of deportation, condemning our faithful to a humiliating exile and our 2000-year-old…

The Filipino Church will continue to stand with the country’s tribal communities who are victims of abuse, persecution, and extrajudicial killings, according to Manila’s auxiliary bishop Broderick Pabillo. Dr Pabillo had been asked to “actively intervene to end the militarisation of the areas where the tribal communities live”, and for the Church to facilitate the…

Coup leaders agree to restore power to deposed Burkina Faso leader Leaders of a September 16 coup in Burkina Faso are to restore to power the deposed president Michel Kafando. The army and the Régiment Sécurité Présidentielle (RSP) have agreed that the latter should withdraw from their positions in the capital city Ouagadougou, while the…

The Pope has been hailed for prompting an end to the nation’s conflict, writes Paul Keenan

Lisette Carr went to the US and heard the Pope invigorate a whole generation