VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will travel to the heartland of the Italian mafia for the first time June 21, visiting the southern town where a three-year-old was murdered in a local drug war earlier this year.

Before the airline hijackings of Sept. 11, 2001, before the shoe-bomber and others like him, it was simpler to travel by air. You didn’t need to take off your shoes to pass through security, you could carry liquids with you, laptops and other electronic devices, if you had any, did not have to be brought out of your carry-on bags. The door to the cockpit wasn’t barricaded with steel, and there was much less paranoia in general about security. You even got to see the pilot occasionally. 

Sts. Peter and Paul (Year A) June 29 (Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8; 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19) 

Dramatic prison breaks are featured in many novels and movies. Recently Canadians were shocked at a daring helicopter escape from a prison in Quebec. Peter, however, could top any of these stories. He was sprung from captivity by an angel! 

VATICAN CITY - When Pope Francis condemns a "cult of money" and the "dictatorship" of a faceless economy, he isn't trying to damper entrepreneurial spirit or shutter business.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis expressed his fears over increasing violence in Iraq and prayed for peace, security and reconciliation in the country.

VATICAN CITY - Although they have not yet reached full unity, Roman Catholics and Anglicans continue their dialogue, come together in prayer and work side by side, including on a new project to combat human trafficking around the world.

VATICAN CITY - For everyone who has any kind of authority over others, the one sin "at your fingertips" is the sin of corruption, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - When Pope Francis visits South Korea Aug. 14-18, he will take part in Asian Youth Day with delegates from some 30 countries, preside over the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs and meet with President Park Geun-hye.

VATICAN CITY - Underscoring the close ties between Christianity and Judaism and calling Holocaust denial “madness,” Pope Francis told an interviewer that “inside every Christian is a Jew.”

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis formally announced six men and women would be made saints Nov. 23, the feast of Christ the King. He made the announcement during a morning "ordinary public consistory," a meeting of cardinals and promoters of the sainthood causes that formally ends the sainthood process.