In a message this week, Pope Francis said the Catholic Church should not seek to gain wealth and needs to go forward “with a heart of poverty, not a heart of investment or of a businessman.” The message comes as he introduces new cost-cutting measures to church offices and has encouraged reforms at the Vatican Bank. He said, "Saint Peter did not have a bank account and when he had to pay taxes, the Lord sent him to sea to fish a fish with a coin inside in order to pay" … Discuss

This Sunday, Pope Francis led the first ever “Holy Hour” in which he asked Catholics around the globe to pray together from 5-6 p.m. Rome time. The Pope asked believers to focus on two prayers: One for those “who still suffer slavery and who are victims of war, human trafficking, drug running and slave labor … [the] unemployed, the elderly, migrants, the homeless, prisoners and those who experience marginalization" and one for the Church and its leaders. A Vatican official told Reuters it was "the first time in the history of the Church" that an organized global prayer hour has ever taken place … Discuss

As you may remember, we've taken to posting the comedic work on Wes Molebash, who's comic strip—Insert Image—has a lot of fun with certain points of the Christian subculture and also, occasionally, yogurt ... Discuss

During his message on Sunday, Pope Francis took a few moments to address a different crowd than those gathered in St. Peter's Square—the mafia. He told believers that “we must pray to the Lord to make these mafiosi convert to God,” in a country where organized crime families make hundreds of billions of dollars a year. In Italy, crimes like prostitution, extortion rings and drug trafficking are still major problems fueled by powerful mafia groups. The Pope said, “My thoughts are with the suffering of women, men and also children who are exploited by the many mafias who make them slaves, through prostitution, through many social pressures" … Discuss