“We can find no social or moral justification, no justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing," Pope Francis told an audience of about 200 clients of Catholic Charities gathered at St. Patrick Church.
Pope Francis made a previously unannounced 15-minute stop Sept. 23 at a Washington residence operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor, where he met with about 45 sisters.
If more people are going to answer the call to religious life, it will take more than words to attract their attention, according to four women religious who delivered a Sept. 23 presentation on vocations at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.
Benedict Zama looked out from her table and Pope Francis was coming toward her moments after he arrived at the St. Maria's Meal program of Catholic Charities of the Washington Archdiocese.
One wants to ask Pope Francis what it's like to live with one lung. Another wants to know what kind of cellphone he has and since he's so humble, he probably has a flip phone, he suspects.
The past, the promise and the potential of the United States must not be smothered by bickering and even hatred at a time when the U.S. people and indeed the world need a helping hand, Pope Francis told the U.S. Congress.
Pope Francis had much to say to the U.S. bishops during his remarks at a midday prayer service at St. Matthew Cathedral in Washington Sept. 23, the first full day of his U.S. apostolic journey.
Pope Francis gave the crowd gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception double the thrill before the canonization Mass for Blessed Junipero Serra Sept. 24. His popemobile passed twice through a barricaded walkway before he entered the national shrine to address seminarians and novices.
The streets and sidewalks of Washington, normally packed on weekday mornings, were like a ghost town Sept. 23 save for those making their way to security checkpoints for papal parade spots and the vendors selling papal T-shirts, buttons, flags and posters.
Responding to editors' requests for a regular sampling of current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is a column titled "Keeping the light on for Pope Francis," published online by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Sept. 23.
The 11,000 ticketed guests and a cast of hundreds extra—military units, musicians and federal employees—who waited on the White House lawn to greet Pope Francis Sept. 23 were clearly there as fans of the visiting pope.
Parishioners and visitors attending the predawn bilingual Mass at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church in Washington Sept. 23 were urged to pray that the pope's words during his U.S. visit would have an impact.
Acknowledging the real challenges and burdens the U.S. bishops face in their ministry, Pope Francis shared with them his own experience as a pastor and urged them to keep their eyes focused on Jesus and their hearts open to others.
Pope Francis introduced himself to President Barack Obama and all people of the United States as a "son of an immigrant family" arriving in the United States for the first time to learn from others and to share from his own experience.
Despite repeated questions from journalists on what Pope Francis will say to President Barack Obama, a joint meeting of Congress and the United Nations on any range of potential subjects, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi advised everyone to wait and listen for themselves.
Known as the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia will be "the city of family love" and the "world capital of families" during the four-day World Meeting of Families, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The largest-ever World Meeting of Families opened in Philadelphia Sept. 22. More than 17,500 participants from more than 100 countries registered for the four-day congress, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia.
