Last month thieves in France robbed, and in the process desecrated, ten churches in the Diocese of Annecy, in the country’s Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region. A similar incident also occurred in the Diocese of Vannes, in Brittany.

Local press reported that the churches in the Annecy diocese were broken into October 28 and 29.  The perpetrators  are believed to be two men who forced open the church doors with a crow bar…

The door is one of the most important parts of our home. Through it we come and go, receive visitors and say goodbye to old friends. It is a place of sadness and joy, departures and entrances.

That is why it is a place where we should invite God’s presence, asking for his protection over it and our home…

Pope Francis sent messages of condolence to people in Iran and Iraq after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake killed more than 400 people, mostly in Iran.

The pope “assures all affected by this tragedy of his prayerful solidarity,” said the nearly identical messages, released today (13 November). 

“In expressing his sorrow to all who mourn the loss of their loved ones, he offers his prayers for the deceased and commends them to the mercy of the almighty,” said the telegrams, signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state…

The Vatican is calling for integral nuclear disarmament. According to the preliminary conclusions of a just-ended high level symposium entitled “Prospects for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament”, integral disarmament is both an urgent immediate need and a long-term process.

The symposium, organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development got underway as tensions escalated between the US and North Korea. 

It saw the participation of eleven Nobel peace laureates, top United Nations and NATO officials, leading experts, ‎heads of  major foundations and of civil society organizations, as well representatives of bishops conferences, Christian denominations and other faiths. Pope Francis addressed the gathering on Friday…