Redemptorist Father Bruce Lewandowski was surprised June 1 by a call from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio – the pope’s representative in the United States – relating that Pope Francis had selected the pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus/Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Parish in Highlandtown as the archdiocese’s new auxiliary bishop. The appointment was announced...Read More

While not adopting the Japanese bishops' opposition to nuclear power plants as his own, Pope Francis insisted the 2011 meltdown at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Fukushima raises serious questions.Read More

Pope Francis apologized that two men entered a church near the Vatican, took controversial statues and tossed them into the Tiber River. “As bishop of the diocese, I apologize,” he said Oct. 25, the first time the full membership of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon was gathered since the statues were taken from...Read More

Pope Francis welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Vatican July 4, and the two discussed the ongoing wars in Eastern Ukraine and in Syria, the Vatican said. Russia plays a major role in both conflicts. At the end of the 55-minute private meeting, Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press office, issued a...Read More