Most of us go to church to pray. But beware, some prey.

When I was a graduate student in Belgium, I was privileged one day to sit in on a conference given by Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Brussels.

ROME – Priests in central Italy were instructed to celebrate Mass outdoors following another devastating earthquake that rocked the region and brought one its most spiritually and historically significant churches tumbling down.

There used to be a time when I thought of Mass as just an obligation; something I had to attend to please God. It was after going to Madrid for World Youth Day 2011 that my eyes were opened. I understood that I had been approaching the Eucharist in the wrong way.

“This is holy ground,” Cardinal Thomas Collins declared as he rededicated St. Michael’s Cathedral, capping off a five-year, $128 million restoration of the 168-year-old home of Toronto’s Catholics.

WASHINGTON – Recent comments by a high-ranking Vatican official have sparked questions about the direction priests should face while celebrating Mass.

There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.

Pope Francis presiding over a Jubilee Mass for Teens in St Peter's Square on Sunday told them "the true friends of Jesus stand out essentially by the genuine love that shines forth in their way of life." He also told the 13 to 16 year olds that although love is the path to happiness, it is not an easy one and requires effort. He also said, happiness has no price.  "It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love."

VATICAN CITY - As the death toll from the Brussels terror attacks rose on March 24, Pope Francis began three days of solemn observances leading to Easter Sunday by denouncing those who help fuel terrorism the way some once backed Judas against Jesus.

EL PASO, Texas - By the time the action started at the Sun Bowl Stadium Feb. 17 for the simulcast of Pope Francis' Mass from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, scarcely a few hundred people had arrived.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday evening, saying Mary “has experienced the divine mercy, and has hosted the very source of this mercy in her womb: Jesus Christ.”

Pope Francis on Monday celebrated Mass at Bangui's Barthélémy Boganda Stadium for thousands of the faithful from the Central African Republic.

Sunday 25 Oct. Lines of faithful spiraled around St. Peter's Square from early on Sunday awaiting their chance to enter St. Peter’s Basilica for the closing Mass of the Synod on the Family. The Mass, presided over by Pope Francis, marked the end of the second gathering of the Synod of Bishops to discuss "The Mission and Vocation of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World."

HOLGUIN, Cuba - The scene would have been unimaginable a few years ago: A Catholic Mass in Holguin's Revolution Plaza, where May Day parades and other patriotic events exalting the Cuban Revolution take place.

HAVANA - Although it was not part of his formal program, Pope Francis took time after Sunday Mass to visit Cuba's ailing former leader, Fidel Castro.