VATICAN CITY - Lent is a time of conversion and a time to deepen one's faith, demonstrating and sharing it through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, Pope Francis said.

With the start of a new year, what has become increasingly evident to me is how fortunate I am to have strong, faith-filled female friends.

VATICAN CITY - God's mercy is constant and limitless; he is faithful in his mercy for his children, even when they are unfaithful, Pope Francis said.

TORONTO - Catholic teachers should be genuine in their faith and countercultural agents of holy wisdom, particularly at a time when assisted suicide and euthanasia are coming to Canada, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

VATICAN CITY - The best thing parents can pass on to their children is their religious faith, Pope Francis said as he baptized 26 babies.

Pope Francis warned against false spirituality and worldliness saying many people appear to be spiritual but live in a way that is totally detached from the presence or needs of others. He stressed that works of mercy are at the heart of our faith in God and the visible sign of that faith. The Pope was speaking at his first Mass at the Santa Marta residence since the Christmas break.

VATICAN CITY - Catholics are called to witness to their faith in Jesus before all people, including Jews, but the Catholic Church "neither conducts nor supports" any institutional missionary initiative directed toward Jews, says a new document from a Vatican commission.

TARTUS, Syria - Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, visiting Syria, urged Christians to hold onto their faith.

WASHINGTON - Atrocities committed in the name of Islam reverberate in a historic mosque in Washington.

KAMPALA, Uganda - As Pope Francis encouraged Ugandan Christians to draw inspiration from the 19th-century Ugandan Martyrs, he carried with him graphic images of the horrors the 45 Anglican and Catholic martyrs endured.

Greg Pennoyer calls it “living in a culture of amnesia.” Canadians may know bits and pieces of their history — the date of Confederation, where Henry Hudson froze to death, how General Wolfe defeated the Marquis de Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham. But we’ve lost the thread of the whole story.

During my high school years, I struggled with mental illness. I felt hopeless. I was alone. I was hurting and I knew that nothing could change the way I felt. It was during this time that I grew in my faith.

In or out? Us or them? Where do we draw the line? Should we draw the line? Once a line is drawn, how do we look beyond our borders?

The world Synod of Bishops on the family is not a parliament where participants will negotiate or lobby, Pope Francis said, but it must be a place of prayer where bishops speak with courage and open themselves to “God who always surprises us.”

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) Sept. 13 (Isaiah 50:5-9; Psalm 116; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35)

There is no shortage of individuals claiming to be agents and proclaimers of God’s will. Unfortunately, many of them represent nothing more than their own opinions, fears, prejudices and desires. Stripped of the cloak of God-talk, their words, thoughts and actions usually have little if anything to do with God. Often they divide or exclude people, stir up negative thoughts and emotions, and even end in violence that they believe is divinely sanctioned.