In an interview with the Vatican’s “Osservatore Romano” newspaper, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples reflects on the theme of evangelization and expresses gratitude to begin his new service.

During a Mass in Manila on Sunday 9 December, the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, asks the faithful to bless Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and his new mission as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. (Video footage courtesy of TV Maria Philippines)

Pope Francis expresses closeness and concern for the families of 38 people on board a Chilean Air Force transport plane that has gone missing in Antarctica.

During his General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis held up the figure of St. Paul as a model for Christians saying suffering, persecution and martyrdom are a sign that they are walking in the footsteps of the Lord.

Cardinal Filoni talks about his experience as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, as his eight-year long mandate comes to an end.

Before the General Audience on Wednesday morning Pope Francis greets a group of Ukrainian pilgrims from the Byzantine Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, marking 30 years from the end of Soviet oppression.

At the General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis continues his catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles. This week, he reflects on how St. Paul suffers trials and persecution in proclaiming the crucified and risen Lord. Below is the official English-language summary:

As grateful as I am that museums preserve Catholic art, I cannot spend time in religious exhibitions without feeling a certain melancholy. Stripped of their original context (church or chapel) and of their original viewers (praying Catholics), these works often fail to evoke in me admiration, let alone devotion. And yet, as I wandered through the medieval section of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, glancing at old, ornate reliquaries and sadly displaced stained glass windows, I came across a statue of Mary that stopped me where I stood. She was not quite two feet tall, carved in ivory, standing there on a pedestal. A line cut straight down the front of the statue, from the crown of her head to her feet, and on both of her sides there were hinges. The statue stood open like a little triptych—a three-piece altar panel. Inside the statue, the sculptor had carved…

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue hosts a one day meeting aimed at enhancing interreligious solidarity in the service of a vulnerable and wounded humanity

The government of the Czech Republic has confirmed that a gunman with an illegal weapon shot dead six people and wounded three more in a hospital waiting room in the Czech city of Ostrava. After the attack the gunman took his own life.