Pope Francis sent a video message on Thursday to participants in the 8th Festival of the Social Doctrine of the Church, taking place in the Italian city of Verona on 22-25 November.

The Holy Father said the event’s theme – “The risk of freedom” – invites reflection on what has always underpinned the experience of men, women, societies, and civilizations…

The itinerary for Pope Francis’ visit to Panama to attend World Youth Day celebrations, has been released. He will travel to the country from the 23-27 January 2019.

From Rome, Pope Francis will arrive at Panama’s Tocumen International airport. Following an official welcome, he will travel to the Nunciature…

Pope Francis has shifted the Catholic Church’s annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees from January to September, the Holy See spokesman, Greg Burke said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“At the request of various Bishops’ Conferences, the Holy Father has moved the World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the last Sunday of September,” the statement read. “Thus, the next World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the 105 th , will be celebrated on Sunday 29 September 2019.”  “As usual, the text of the Holy Father’s Message will be released some months before the World Day,” Burke added…

Imagine being in a strange land, arrested by security forces and thrown into a cold, dark cell. You are in solitary and do not know what your fate will be. You fear the executioner will be coming for you.

A few frightening days pass, and you hear footsteps approaching. Outside your cell door, muffled voices can be heard…

1. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him” (Ps 34:6). The words of the Psalmist become our own whenever we are called to encounter the different conditions of suffering and marginalization experienced by so many of our brothers and sisters whom we are accustomed to label generically as “the poor”…

The two-day symposium which ended Friday has been organized by the Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. Among those taking part is Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal, Pietro Parolin, as well as, Princeton Professor Robert George, and Harvard Professor, Mary Ann Glendon. In an address to the meeting on Friday, Professor Glendon spoke on the “universal dimension of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its effective application.”

Pick and choose attitude to rights

During her speech, the Harvard Professor spoke of a “pick and choose attitude to rights” and said that Human Rights ideas have become a victim of their own success…