The interim director of the Vatican Press Office said the move was an "extraordinary gesture" that underlined the diplomat's desire to fully cooperate with French authorities.

According to the Vatican, an estimated 250 migrants, refugees and rescue volunteers attended the Mass, which was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica.

The commission will be chaired by Harvard Law School professor Mary Ann Glendon.

Family, friends and hundreds of service members in uniform remembered the heroism and self-sacrifice of Luis Alvarez during an emotional funeral Mass.

After 61 minutes, just as emergency room personnel were about to pronounce him dead, James Fulton Engstrom began to breathe and his heart rate shot up to a normal level for a newborn.

Pope Francis named six superiors of women's religious orders, a consecrated laywoman and the superior of the De La Salle Christian Brothers to be full members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Participants, who lobbied U.S. lawmakers after the conference for tougher legislation to combat the problem, learned about its complexities and its global dimensions.

Among religious adults who attend services at least twice a month, about half say they sometimes or often consult with a religious leader, according to an AP-NORC Poll.

If you’ve been praying for any length of time, you might have heard about the practice of spiritual direction. So you might wonder: What is it? And is it for me?

Pope Francis has approved a miracle bringing the late American Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen closer to sainthood.

Jesuit poverty should be as dramatically visible and shocking as the incarnation of Jesus.

A federal judge July 3 granted a preliminary injunction blocking an Ohio ban on abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected.

In 37 novels and two short story collections, Burke writes about characters who struggle to do good in a context of pervasive evil.

The show raises questions about the trust we put in the institutions that claim to protect us. I could not watch this series without thinking of the world’s denial and inadequate response regarding climate change.

DAM is making feminism its focus in its latest album.

A french priest is believed to have abused as many as 85 boys and faces trial in a French court next year. The church tribunal said its internal investigation found he committed "criminal acts of sexual character against minors under 16."

The chairmen of two U.S. bishops' committees said July 3 they oppose a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that they say would lead to separation or housing instability for many families.

Pope Francis welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Vatican July 4. Russia plays a major role in conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

We need some comforting, all of us. A moment when we are drawn away from our troubles, a slice of life without its accompanying sorrows.

Patriarch Bartholomew said, "Pope Francis made this grand, fraternal and historic gesture" of giving the Orthodox fragments of the relics of St. Peter.