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"The whole church community in Poland has been shaken by the latest painful information – these crimes have caused deep suffering for harmed people," the bishops said in a pastoral letter to be read in parishes nationwide May 26.

VATICAN CITY - In an interview with a Chinese state-run publication, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin welcomed the opportunity for China and the Holy See to work together to “build a more secure and prosperous world.”

WARSAW, Poland - A cardinal incarcerated for 18 years after refusing to abandon his church and a bishop thrown in an unmarked grave after starving to death in an "extermination prison" are among seven communist-era martyrs who will be beatified by Pope Francis during his upcoming visit to Romania.

VATICAN CITY – When Pope Francis wants to warn Christians against falling into the trap of rigidity and putting too much emphasis on adherence to the law above the merciful encounter with God, he often turns to the example of the Pharisees.

VATICAN CITY – The priesthood is not a “cultural association or a union,” but a ministry of mercy anchored on Christ’s mission to bring hope to the downtrodden and comfort to those who suffer, Pope Francis told new priests.

MYTILENE, Greece – The Vatican and the Greek government agree on what should happen to the asylum-seekers in Greek camps: They should be welcomed by European communities and helped to build a new life on the continent.

VATICAN CITY - Though dramatic representations of demonic possessions, as seen in Hollywood, can make them appear to be the primary method of the devil, one Dominican priest and exorcist has warned that the greater and more common threat to a person’s salvation is the temptation to sin.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has decided to authorize pilgrimages to Medjugorje, which can now be officially organized by dioceses and parishes and will no longer take place only in a private capacity. 

What are your thoughts about meditation as a spiritual practice? Does it strengthen or challenge one's religious beliefs? Consider a new study that finds that even though mindfulness advocates tout the boons of meditation, its downside is underreported. “In the context of 18 million meditators in the United States alone, even low rates of particularly unpleasant meditation-related experiences - comparable, for instance, to the rate of severe side effects during psychotherapy - become an important concern not only for the nascent field of contemplative science but for public health more generally.”

A Scalabrinian superior in the Far East discusses how missionaries are trained to put the Gospel command of meeting the stranger into action at a time of rising human mobility. "For an effective evangelical announcement, it is necessary to relate and continue to dialogue, in harmony with the feelings and aspirations" of people on the move.

MYTILENE, Greece - A Vatican delegation led by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski visited refugees living in a ragged collection of tents amid a hillside olive grove. The May 9 visit to the “unofficial” Moira camp, where more than 1,000 people live outside a government-established camp housing nearly 5,000, was part of a mission by Pope Francis to check on the status of refugees on the island of Lesbos three years after the pope visited and took 12 refugees home to Rome with him.

PARIS – Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The report said nothing will change the trend short of a "fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors."

Of the thousands of people who have been leaving Venezuela daily in search of better living conditions in neighboring countries, indigenous people face some of the greatest hardships, church workers say. And government policies for migrants do not always take into account their particular circumstances.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has chosen Brazil's Cardinal Claudio Hummes to serve as relator general of October's Synod of Bishops on the Amazon. Scheduled for Oct. 6-27, the synod will focus on "Amazonia: New paths for the church and for an integral ecology. Jesuit Father Roberto Jaramillo Bernal, president of the Latin American Jesuit Conference, told CNS March 20 that "without the Amazon, Latin American goes under and, without (the benefits of) the Amazon for the planet, we all go under."

The predicted decline in membership would lead to major budget shortfalls for the Catholic Church in Germany. Cardinal Marx encouraged German Catholics not to "panic." He said "the church is always about sharing the Gospel, even under changed circumstances, and for me the study is also a call for mission."

The president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, Cardinal Charles Maug Bo, Bishop of Yangon (Myanmar), called for an end to retaliation against Muslims in the wake of the Easter bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka. He said Christians and Muslims are both minorities in Sri Lanka and must act in solidarity against ISIS.

VATICAN CITY - While protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raged across the country, National Guard forces loyal to the embattled head of state launched tear gas at churchgoers attending Mass at a local parish.

Hostility toward journalists by politicians in many countries has fueled "an unprecedented level of fear and danger." 700 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in the last 10 years, nearly 100 in the last year alone, including three in the Philippines. Most were "deliberately targeted."

QUEBEC CITY - The Quebec government is preparing to adopt what would become the most stringent secularism legislation in Canada, hoping to end more than a decade of acrimonious debates about religion's place in the public space.