Spiritual practice

Trump-supporting extremists were storming into the U.S. Capitol. Rear Adm. Margaret Grun Kibben, who has served in combat, was not rattled. Instead, she gathered herself and prayed.

If Christians forget to remember in prayer people who are suffering, their prayer can become a superficial activity that feeds their ego rather than seeking the good and well-being of others, Pope Francis said.

Praying to God in times of joy and sorrow is a natural, human thing to do because it connects men and women to their father in heaven, Pope Francis said.

Long a staple of Catholic life, the rosary is back in the spotlight with the election of Joe Biden, who will become the nation’s second Catholic president when he is inaugurated in January. The president-elect often carries a set of rosary beads with him that once belonged to his son Beau, who died in 2015.

There is no better way to pray than like Mary, who opened her heart to God with humility and trust, Pope Francis said.

After the Vatican released its extensive report on Theodore E. McCarrick, Pope Francis renewed the Catholic Church's pledge to uproot the scourge of sexual abuse.

Prayer has the power to take all those things in life that seem like a condemnation and turn them into something good, Pope Francis said.

Being indifferent to or hating others is to deny the existence of God's presence in one's neighbor, Pope Francis said.