Churches & Religion

Pope Francis meets journalists aboard the plane during the flight from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to Rome, Italy, on Thur sday.

Pope: Contraception a possibility in Zika crisis

February 18, 2016, 6:32pm Churches & Religion

Pope Francis has suggested women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying “avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil” in light of the global epidemic. Read story

Pope Francis meets journalists Wednesday on the flight from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to Rome.

Pope Francis: Bishops who reassign suspect pedophiles should resign

February 18, 2016, 6:31pm Churches & Religion

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE -- Pope Francis says any bishop who moves a suspected pedophile priest from parish to parish should resign. Read story

Pope Francis arrives to pay a visit to the St. Mary Major Basilica Rome, Thursday. Pope Francis landed in Rome Thursday after a week-long trip to Mexico.

Pope suggests contraception can be condoned in Zika crisis

February 18, 2016, 9:19am Churches & Religion

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE -- Pope Francis has suggested that women threatened with the Zika virus could use artificial contraception, saying there's a clear moral difference between aborting a fetus and preventing a pregnancy. Read story

Pope Francis smiles upon arrival at the US-Mexico border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016. After a brief moment of prayer, Francis got back on his popemobile to head for the fairgrounds, where he celebrated his last Mass during a five-day Mexico tour.

At U.S.-Mexico border, pope makes plea for migrants

February 17, 2016, 8:23pm Churches & Religion

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- In a moment filled with powerful political symbolism, Pope Francis prayed Wednesday at Mexico's dusty northern border for the thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach the United States and appealed for governments to open their hearts, if not their borders, to the "human… Read story

Women and labor leaders from El Paso and around the country march through downtown El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. Pope Francis is holding a mass in Mexico in neighboring Ciudad Juarez on Wednesday.

Bridge linking El Paso to Mexico draws papal enthusiasts

February 17, 2016, 2:30pm Churches & Religion

Residents in the West Texas city of El Paso were preparing Wednesday for the experience of a large outdoor Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate across the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, as he wraps up his visit to the Latin American country. Read story

Pope concludes Mexico trip with visits to prison, U.S. border

Soldiers stand guard as people arrive to get a glimpse of Pope Francis along the pontiff's planned route in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, on Wednesday.

Pope Francis was wrapping up his trip to Mexico on Wednesday with a politically charged visit to the U.S. border for a huge open-air Mass as he focused on problems of violence and migration, a hot issue for the U.S. presidential campaign. Read story

Pope turns eye to Mexico’s drug heartland in Michoacan stop

Nuns sing before the arrival of Pope Francis at Venustiano Carranza stadium in Morelia, Mexico, on Tuesday. Francis arrived in the heart of Mexico's drug-trafficking country to offer words of encouragement to priests trying to minister to a people tormented by the violence and gang warfare of the drug trade.

MORELIA, Mexico -- Pope Francis arrived Tuesday in the heart of Mexico's drug-trafficking country to offer words of encouragement to priests trying to minister to a people tormented by the violence and gang warfare of the drug trade. Read story

Pope celebrates indigenous in Chiapas as Catholics dwindle

Pope Francis delivers his message during Mass, on a stage decorated with animals in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, on Monday. Francis is celebrating Mexico's Indians on Monday with a visit to Chiapas state, a center of indigenous culture, where he will preside over a Mass in three native languages thanks to a new Vatican decree approving their use in liturgy. The visit is also aimed at boosting the faith in the least Catholic state in Mexico.

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico -- Pope Francis on Monday denounced the centuries-old exploitation and social exclusion of Mexico's indigenous people and said the world should instead learn from their culture and appreciation of nature. Read story

Pope meets Russian Orthodox leader

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, left, and Pope Francis meet at the Jose Marti airport in Havana, Cuba, Friday. This is the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a historic development in the 1,000-year schism within Christianity.

HAVANA -- Pope Francis met Friday with Patriarch Kirill in the first-ever papal meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, an historic development in the 1,000-year schism that divided Christianity that may, however, be more about Russia asserting itself than any new ecumenical progress. Read story