Mercy is what makes God perfect and all-powerful, Pope Francis said in his document officially proclaiming the 2015-2016 extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy."If God limited himself to only justice, he would cease to be God, and would instead be like human beings who ask merely that the law be resp

In 2004, with the divorce rate looming around 70 percent in Cuba, the Catholic Church called for a "year of the family."Even among Catholics back then, there was little hope that workshops, discussions and reflection would do much good to remedy the situation. A decade later, the figure of

The World Bank and global faith leaders are joining together to end extreme poverty around the world by 2030.The effort brings together the influential faith community with a major U.S.-based institution that has committed billions of dollars to development work and can leverage billions more from p

Basima Toma teaches English to about 40 children at the Don Bosco youth center.A young Iraqi boy stands at the chalkboard with a plastic ruler in his hand and spells out the words W-I-N-T-E-R, S-P-R-I-N-G, S-U-M-M-E-R, A-U-T-U-M-N.Toma and her family have been in Istanbul long enough to see each of

Church leaders in South Sudan are trying to breathe new life into their country's stalled peace talks.Stating that they spoke "with divine authority," leaders of the South Sudan Council of Churches, which includes Catholics and Protestants, issued a statement in late March lamenting th

A new Kansas law banning an abortion procedure that results in dismemberment of an unborn child "has the power to transform the landscape of abortion policy in the United States," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.Gov. Sam Brownback signed the measure April 7 during a