FAITH/STORIES

What kind of world will we leave our children?

What kind of world will we leave our children?

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On June 18, Pope Francis released his long-anticipated encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.

The Fr. James Corkery, theology professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University; the Fr. Hans Zollner, president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Centre for Child Protection; Bishop Edward J. Burns, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committee on child protection; Sr. Sara Butler, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology; and Philippa Hitchen, journalist at Vatican Radio, speak to the press during a conference on how to handle the current clergy sex abuse crisis.

Rome summit looks to improve church’s handling of child sexual abuse

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ROME - As the Vatican continues to work on policies to combat clergy sex abuse, a leading pontifical university in Rome hosted a conference this week on how the Catholic Church can better address the current crisis and released details of a new diploma program on protecting children.

ope Francis greets a child during a gathering with young people in Piazza Vittorio in Turin, Italy, June 21.

Pope tells parents to be mindful of children's suffering

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VATICAN CITY - The deep hurts that spouses inflict on each other cause great suffering to their children and, in some cases, lead to a separation that is "morally necessary" to protect spouses and children from more serious forms of violence, Pope Francis said during his general audience in St. Peter's Square June 24.

Pope Francis talks with Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi following the concluding session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican in this Oct. 18, 2014, file photo.

Synod working document expands scope of family issues, pastoral needs

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VATICAN CITY - The working document for this fall's Synod of Bishops on the Family called for expanded discussion and pastoral solutions to challenges such as how economic disparity and environmental degradation affect families as well as the impact of infertility, aging and disability.

Pope Francis visits the Shroud of Turin in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, June 21.

Pope Francis contemplates Shroud of Turin, calls it 'icon of love'

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VATICAN CITY - It took place in silence and lasted only a few minutes, but Pope Francis' time of prayer and contemplation before the Shroud of Turin was marked with gestures of reverence and tenderness.

Pope Francis calls on the faithful and “people of good” to take steps to mitigate climate change and treat all of creation with respect and concern in his encyclical released June 18.

People are destroying the earth, Pope says in encyclical

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[Read the Pope's encyclical on the environment here.]

VATICAN CITY - The earth, which was created to support life and give praise to God, is crying out with pain because human activity is destroying it, Pope Francis says in his long-awaited encyclical, Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home.

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 17.

Pope Francis: Seek forgiveness for shutting out refugees

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said people who shut out refugees should seek forgiveness June 17, after clashes on Italy’s borders as European countries try to push back against a wave of migrants fleeing by boat from Libya.

A Roma boy sits in the backyard of a house in Gyongyospata, Hungary, March 24.

Read encyclical on care for creation with 'open heart,' Pope asks world

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VATICAN CITY - Appealing to the entire world, Pope Francis urged everyone to read his upcoming encyclical on the care of creation and to better protect a damaged earth.

A wooden figure of St. Francis of Assisi is perched in the yard of the energy-efficient straw-bale house built by a Catholic religious order in Ohio. Pope Francis’ second encyclical on the environment is called “Laudato Si” and is named after a St. Francis of Assisi prayer. Pope Francis calls everyone to be a steward of the Earth.

Vatican outraged by encyclical leak

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The most anticipated papal encyclical in history has anticipated itself. What an angry Vatican spokesman called an “intermediate draft” of the letter from Pope Francis on the environment was leaked by an Italian magazine three days before its official launch.

Ottawa Auxiliary Bishop Christian Riesbeck will speak about his experience at a Companion of the Cross parish in Houston as part of two-week institute on the new evangelization.

The new evangelization depends on parish renewal

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OTTAWA - Parish renewal is the key to the new evangelization and the survival of the Church, say organizers of the Summer Institute of New Evangelization.

In this March 3, 2008 photo, environmental workers collect sea samples after an oil spill at Boca Chica, Dominican Republic.

Pope Francis: ‘Let us modify our relationship with natural resources’

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VATICAN CITY - People must change their lifestyles and attitudes to help defeat hunger, Pope Francis said June 11, a hint of what may be coming in his much-anticipated environmental encyclical next week.

A homeless woman sits with her belongings as she waits for a friend leaving the Vatican following a March 26 visit.

Pope Francis to open 30-bed homeless shelter a few steps from Vatican walls

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will open a homeless shelter on the edge of Vatican City, the latest move by the pontiff to help poor people in Rome.

Pope Francis gestures as he leaves his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican June 10.

Pope OKs plan to investigate, judge bishops who fail to act on abuse

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VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has approved new procedures for the Vatican to investigate and judge claims of "abuse of office" by bishops who allegedly failed to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.

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