Given the Holy Land's long and complex history of military, religious and cultural conflict, the run-up to Pope Francis' May 24-26 pilgrimage was inevitably marked by fears it would be marred by controversy—or worse.Now that the pope's second international trip is over, so are thos

Francis referred to three investigations during plane-ride press conference.

Churches in Sudan, including the Sudan Catholic Bishops' Conference, have condemned the death sentence handed to a Christian woman who refused to renounce her faith.Meriam Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim but whose mother was an Orthodox Christian from Ethiopia, was convicted of apostasy by a co

Pope Francis will meet with a group of sex abuse victims for the first time in June, he told reporters on May 26. During a wide-ranging inflight news conference on his return to Rome from the Holy Land, the pope also confirmed reports the Vatican is investigating charges its former secretary of stat

On last morning in Holy Land, Pope Francis reaches out to Muslims and Jews.

Half a century after a historic encounter between their predecessors, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in the same place to seek inspiration for Christian unity at the site of Christ's death and resurrection."We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb wa