VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church in Germany has strong institutions that contribute much to society and are extremely generous internationally, but Christianity must be more about proclaiming faith and less about maintaining impressive institutions, Pope Francis told the country's bishops.

VATICAN CITY - Even nuns in habits were subjected to a security checkpoint Nov. 18 during Pope Francis’ general audience, a weekly event that attracts thousands.

VATICAN CITY - Despite the ongoing violence in the Central Africa Republic, Pope Francis wants to visit the country Nov. 29-30, plans for the visit are in place, and the security situation is being monitored, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY - "Jesus wept." Pope Francis opened his morning homily with those words as he spoke about the wars and violence engulfing numerous parts of the world.

“The whole world is at war,” and the rejection of the “path of peace” means that God Himself, that Jesus Himself, weeps. This was the message of Pope Francis to the faithful following the readings of the day at Mass on Thursday morning in the Casa Santa Marta.

NAIROBI, Kenya - A Kenyan bishop said the church is comfortable with the security preparations for the reception of Pope Francis, in the wake of the Paris attacks that appear to have targeted crowded areas.

The importance of safeguarding our Christian identity and not living double lives: that was the theme at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily at the Santa Marta Mass on Tuesday morning. The Pope based his words on the daily readings which focus on the need for coherence between our spiritual and our temporal lives.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will visit Rome's synagogue and meet with the city's Jewish community Jan. 17, the Vatican announced.
Invited by Rome's Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, Pope Francis will be the third pope to visit the synagogue; St. John Paul II made his landmark visit in 1986 and Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2010.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis raised the specter of a World War III “in pieces,” Muslims issued statements of condemnation, while evangelical Christians in America debated whether to speak of a “war with Islam.”

VATICAN CITY - "This is not human," Pope Francis said after a night of terror in Paris left more than 120 people dead and more than 200 people injured.

Pope Francis said God is the greatest glory and warned believers against the temptation to deify earthly things and even to idolize our habits. Instead, he said, we should be looking beyond these things to the transcendent, to God the creator, whose glory never fades. The Pope’s words came during his homily at his Mass on Friday (13th November) celebrated at the Santa Marta residence.   

MEXICO CITY - Mexican Foreign Minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu has confirmed that Pope Francis will visit the capital, Mexico City, along with the states of Chihuahua and Chiapas -- on the northern and southern borders respectively -- and Michoacan in western Mexico.

MEXICO CITY - Pope Francis is exploring the possibility of visiting the previously problematic border city of Ciudad Juarez, where a battle between drug cartels during the past decade cost more than 10,000 lives in a four-year period.

VATICAN CITY - A family that chooses to watch TV or play with their smartphones rather than talk at the dinner table is "hardly a family," Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Archbasilica of St John Lateran on Monday evening in a ceremony that included the ordination of a new auxiliary Bishop for the Diocese of Rome.