VATICAN CITY - Soccer-fan Pope Francis urged professional athletes to always be sportsmanlike on and off the field because so many people, especially kids, look up to them.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis told his new economic oversight council that it must be "courageous and determined" in its critical role of helping the Church not waver from its real mission of bringing the Gospel to the world and helping those most in need.

VATICAN CITY - As Vatican representatives prepare to testify before a United Nations inquiry into torture next week, a senior official warned investigators that it would be “deceptive” to link torture with the pedophilia scandals that have swept the Catholic Church.

Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A) May 11 (Acts 2:14a, 36b-41; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:20b-25; John 10:1-10)

Peter’s words rolled across the crowd like the voice of doom. They were thunderstruck at his message: somehow they had crucified the one whom God had designated as Lord and Messiah.

One of the most gifted actors I’ve observed is Robert Duvall. From fearless napalm-loving Lt. Col. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, to shy retired Cuban barber in Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, or mild-mannered consigliere of The Godfather, he gives life to an astonishing array of characters.

The 12th-century Persian poet Rumi submits that we live with a deep secret that sometimes we know, and then not.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has appointed three cardinals, including Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec, to try to resolve a long-standing dispute with a Peruvian university and see if it would be possible to restore the university's designation as "pontifical" and "Catholic."

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis and his council of eight cardinals are unlikely to complete a radical shakeup of the Holy See’s administration, or Curia, before 2015, the Vatican said Tuesday (April 29).

VATICAN CITY - Blessed John Paul II's deep spirituality and his courage to uphold the truth were clear signs of his sainthood, said his successor, retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Third Sunday of Easter (Year A) May 4 (Acts 2:14, 22b-28; Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35)

There are two streams of history active in our world and they often work at cross-purposes. The first stream consists of human schemes and behaviour that are often the expression of desires, fears, jealousy and hatred. Even our best intentions are often fatally compromised by the presence of these tendencies. The world as we experience it is the unhappy result. The other stream is that of God’s will operating in history. It is relentless; even when temporarily diverted or blocked by human behaviour, it always triumphs in the end. God’s will is the redemption of all humanity and the transformation of the world.