In Venezuela, sporadic shortages of basic goods can turn a roll of toilet paper into a rare commodity; add bread and wine to the list of scarce products. Catholic leaders in the South American country have advised priests to conserve what supplies they have as they search for an alternative supply to ease the shortage.

Finding a solution to the “ongoing scandal” of worldwide hunger should be a top priority, said the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations. Addressing a U.N. General Assembly meeting on sustainable development goals May 23, Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, called it “a shame that so many of the poor people in the world continue to find themselves helpless victims of chronic hunger.”

In the Eucharist, Jesus makes himself the food that nourishes and sustains Catholics, even when the road gets rough, Pope Francis said before leading a Corpus Christi procession through the streets of Rome.

Veronica “Ronnie” Royal of Virginia has been an iconographer since 1998, working diligently to hone her craft and encourage the use of icons in contemplation and prayer. Born in Nancy, France, she was raised in the Ukrainian Catholic Church by her Russian mother and Ukranian father. Icons were very much a part of her church and family life.

The Vatican has reiterated its call for negotiations to end the violence in Syria, saying that children are suffering the most. “Silencing the guns is the priority,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent observer to U.S. agencies in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council May 29 during a debate on Syria.

All Catholics must ask themselves what they personally have done lately to build up the holiness of the church and ensure people feel welcomed and loved in it, Pope Francis said.

Singer-songwriter Audrey Assad seeks to bring a message of Pope Francis about building bridges to the music business.

Visiting an ordinary Rome parish for the first time as the city’s bishop, Pope Francis gave a group of children their first Communion and a catechism lesson on the meaning of the Trinity.

Continuing a papal tradition of finishing a predecessor’s work in progress, Pope Francis intends to complete an encyclical — on the virtue of faith — begun during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

More than 100,000 Christians are killed each year because of their faith, and millions more face bigotry, intolerance and marginalization because of their beliefs, a Vatican official said. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's permanent observer to U.S. agencies in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council May 27 that "credible research" by Massimo Introvigne, a former representative of t...