In Iran, conversion to Christianity can be a crime meriting a sentence of more than 10 years imprisonment. Catholic churches within the country are closely monitored with surveillance cameras to ensure that Muslims do not enter, and religious schools are limited in what they can teach, an Iranian-born journalist, Sohrab Ahmari, explained to CNA.

Ahmari is currently writing a spiritual memoir about his own journey to the Catholic faith for Ignatius Press…

Pope Francis meeting Chilean bishops in Santiago, Chile on January 16, 2018.

The Holy See’s Press Office released a statement saying Pope Francis is meeting the bishops of Chile, May 15-17, to examine in depth the causes and consequences, as well as the mechanisms that have led in some cases to the concealment and serious omissionsagainst the victims of sexual abuse in Chile…

Every year on the Sunday before Pentecost the Church marks World Communications Day to celebrate the achievements of the media and to focus of how communications can best be used to promote gospel values. In the lead-up to this Sunday’s 52nd World Communications Day, Pope Francis released a message entitled “The Truth will set you free. Fake news and journalism for peace.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Communication is part of God’s plan for us and an essential way to experience fellowship…

In a telegramme addressed to the Archbishop of Agrigento in Sicily on Wednesday evening, Pope Francis marked the 25th anniversary of Saint Pope John Paul II’s visit to the town of Agrigento where he denounced the mafia’s organized criminal activities and called on ‘mafiosi’ criminals to convert.

In his message the Pope recalled that St. John Paul II’s prophetic appeal came at the end of Holy Mass on 9 May 1993, celebrated in the famous archaeological site of the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, and said that he too, on this important anniversary, has an appeal for young people today to resist the call of organized crime…

Left to right: Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica, 1846. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Leonardo Da Vinci, circa 1503-1519.

There are times when your child hugs you and gives you a picture in crayon of the two of you holding hands surrounded by hearts. There are also times when you’re knee-deep in laundry, tired, desperate for sleep, and barely able to keep up with the demands of motherhood…

After a two-day meeting in Rome, the governing council of the Vatican office for the Synod of Bishops approved the text to be used as the working document for the upcoming October gathering dedicated to youth.

The May 7-8 meeting of the governing council was presided over by Pope Francis and centered on finalizing the text.

A compilation of ideas and thoughts from five sources, the document includes information from answers to a questionnaire sent out to bishops conferences; answers to an online questionnaire for youth; an international seminar on youth that took place in Rome in September 2017; contributions and suggestions from both individuals and groups; and the concluding document of the March 19-24 pre-synod meeting in Rome, which gathered some 300 youth from around the world…