Christopher White

When bishops gathered in Suva, Fiji, earlier this month, plans for a prayer service next to the ocean were derailed by stormy weather. The very location of the meeting underscored one of the region's most urgent concerns.

Pope Francis repeatedly asks Catholics around the world to pray for him. Now a new online project asks people to say 10 Hail Marys for him on the 10th anniversary of his papacy.

Before the pope and other leaders arrived in South Sudan, two ecumenical rallies brought out about 500 people ages 15-35 for joint prayer, music and art collaboration. Now, after the visit, the unifying effort continues.

In a press conference aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis addressed recent moves by his critics and joined leaders of two other Christian churches in condemning the criminalization of LGBTQ persons.

"Those who claim to be believers should have nothing more to do with a culture based on the spirit of vengeance," Pope Francis said at an ecumenical prayer service in Juba, South Sudan, Feb. 4.

Pope Francis, the archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the Church of Scotland arrived in South Sudan on Feb. 3 in an historic ecumenical visit, offering a joint and impassioned appeal for peace. "No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence," Francis begged in remarks outside the presidential palace.

Pope Francis on Feb. 2 urged 65,000 Congolese young people to resist the "poisonous temptation" of corruption that has long plagued the nation and to choose a different future for themselves. 

In an emotional meeting with victims and internally displaced persons, Pope Francis listened to unfiltered accounts of their harrowing recent past, lamenting for those who benefit from the violence to "stop getting rich from resources and money stained with blood."

At a Mass including more than one million participants, Pope Francis on Feb. 1 urged war-weary Congolese Catholics to be a "conscience of peace" as Africa's most populous Catholic nation struggles against ongoing armed conflict and entrenched ethnic divisions.

Kicking off a trip to two African nations Jan. 31, the pope warned world leaders and warring ethnic groups to stop exploiting Africa's vast natural resources and depriving its people of a "future of peace and prosperity."

Catholic environmental experts and advocates hope Pope Francis' visit to the Congo draws attention to how competition for the country's minerals harms the environment and the people.

Pope Francis on Jan. 30 accepted the resignation of Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and appointed Chicago-born Augustinian Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, currently serving in Chiclayo, Peru, to head the influential Vatican office responsible for recommending priests to be named bishops. 

The pope will undertake one of the most strenuous trips of his papacy when he travels to Congo and South Sudan Jan. 31-Feb. 5.

Pope Francis has condemned the criminalization of homosexuality, becoming the first Roman pontiff to officially back the repeal of such legislation in countries where it exists.

Rome is more of a hub than a corporate headquarters, says Bishop Paul Tighe, a secretary for the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education.

In an NCR interview, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's lead clergy abuse investigator, speaks about his work under both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Pope Francis offered a subtle send-off to the late Pope Benedict XVI in an historic Vatican funeral Jan. 5, praising Benedict's devotion to the Gospel and drawing to a close a 10-year period of two popes.

One of the first tasks of the U.S. bishops' lay-run National Review Board was to thoroughly investigate the nature of the clergy sexual abuse and cover-up scandal in the U.S. A key ally was the future Pope Benedict XVI.

Long before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, theologian Tracey Rowland was studying his scholarship — work that she believes should one day lead to Benedict being named a doctor of the church.

Thousands of people from around the world began to pay their final respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 2, as his body was transferred into St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican monastery where he resided for nearly ten years after his surprise resignation from the papacy in 2013.