SOUTH BEND, IND. (CNA/EWTN News) - Most Americans have a favorable view of Pope Francis, but an apparent decline in their numbers may be due to his implicit challenge to American culture, one observer has said.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) - Pope Francis' recent trip to Latin America has rekindled questions about whether he endorses socialism, or even communism.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - An upcoming conference being held at the Vatican examining the link between climate change and human trafficking is a reflection of the importance that ending modern slavery holds for Pope Francis, according to one of its organizers.

ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY (CNA/EWTN News) - In the final homily of his trip to South America Pope Francis said that a key aspect of Christian spirituality and evangelization is to have a welcoming attitude toward others, especially those most in need.

ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis tossed aside his prepared remarks in a talk to thousands of Paraguay's young people - urging the crowd to go against the cultural current and to live for Jesus with a "free heart."

Bishop Richard J. Malone talks about the pope's encyclical "Laudato Si," on care for our common home and reads part of Pope Francis' prayer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) - The setting for Pope Francis' address to Congress in September just grew by giant proportions as the public will be able to watch the telecast from outside the U.S. Capitol building.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - On the first full day of his apostolic journey to South America Pope Francis had already drawn more than 1 million people to his first public Mass in Guayaquil, the Vatican's spokesman estimates.

GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR (CNA/EWTN News) - During a Mass said on Monday, the first full day of his visit to Ecuador, Pope Francis called for prayers that the upcoming Synod on the Family might discern the needs of the family, an institution irreplaceable to society.

There are many statements in Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" (Praise be to you, O Lord!) that are key to the implications of the Holy Father's second encyclical letter. The theme of the mutuality of the humankind-earth relationship is a primary one. The world of nature serves humankind in so many ways. The pope reminds us to be profoundly grateful for that service, and to remember that we humans are called also to serve the earth, particularly by doing all that we can to preserve it from further destruction.

QUITO, ECUADOR (CNA/EWTN News) - Within the walls of the convent in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador, the Carmelite nuns are busy making liturgical cloths and the vestments for Pope Francis' July 6-7 visit to the country.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - During his Mass for the feast of SS. Peter and Paul on Monday, Pope Francis called on the Church's new archbishops to be courageous witnesses who are not ashamed of Christ, and who are convinced by what they themselves teach.

WASHINGTON - Pope Francis' apostolic journey to the United States is "a source of joy and gratitude," said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in response to the release of the full visit schedule by the Vatican, June 30. Pope Francis will visit Washington, New York and Philadelphia, September 22-27. His visit will include addresses to Congress and the United Nations, the canonization of Blessed Junípero Serra and will culminate in his participation in the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

PHILADELPHIA, PA. (CNA/EWTN News) - Renowned classical tenor Andrea Bocelli is accustomed to performing sold-out concerts around the world. He is comfortable center stage at Carnegie Hall and has sold over eighty million records during his musical career.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Family wounds that aren't dealt with in a healthy and timely manner can have devastating effects on both spouses and children, Pope Francis has said, and encouraged wounded families to work toward healing without letting bitterness build up.

The sentencing of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came to a close on June 24, when the Boston Marathon bomber was formally sentenced to death after a jury found him guilty of 30 different charges, including using weapons of mass destruction and the murder of a police officer. Three people died and more than 260 people were injured in the April 2013 bombing. 17 of those charges warrant the death penalty.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA) - With the release of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment this week came a wave of controversy over the Pope's statements about climate change, species extinction and other scientific topics.

VATICAN CITY (CNA) - Speaking to a global gathering of priests, Pope Francis signaled an openness to changing the date of Easter in the West so that all Christians around the world could celebrate the feast on the same day.

Bishop Richard J. Malone spoke of the importance of Pope Francis' message during a press conference held at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport Thursday. Members of the Diocesan Care for Creation Committee, a group formed in 2006 under Bishop Edward U. Kmiec to spread local awareness of environmental issues, and Franciscan brothers and sisters joined him.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In his newly released encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis did not hesitate to wade into controversial topics, making statements on global warming, pollution, species extinction and global inequality's impact on natural resources.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - One of the most challenging scientific questions Pope Francis faces in his new encyclical on creation is that of climate change, which a source close to the document says the Pope addresses in a balanced perspective without taking sides.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In an address on Sunday, Pope Francis asked parents if they believed in the beauty of the love God gives to a man and a woman, and told them to make sure their children see this love in little signs of affection.

ST. LOUIS, MO. (CNA/EWTN News) - With Pope Francis' encyclical on ecology and the environment to be released next week, the U.S. bishops are reflecting on possible themes of the upcoming document.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNA/EWTN News) - For most graduating college seniors, the final weeks of school focus on exams, saying goodbyes and looking to their next steps in life.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - In a recent interview with an Argentine newspaper, Pope Francis said he misses the "tranquillity of walking in the streets" and that he's always been "callejero" - a man of the city.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - On the day of Oscar Romero's beatification in San Salvador, Pope Francis sent a letter to the current archbishop, praising the martyr for his courageous service to the poor amid widespread national violence.

Care for the dying, advocates against the death penalty, an encounter with Pope Francis and the superhero in all of us. Here's our weekly roundup of interesting Catholic links from around the web to get you started for the week.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - The Holy See and the State of Palestine have agreed on the text of a treaty regarding the life and activity of the Church in Palestine, which is expected to be signed soon by both parties.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - This question was part of a special question and answer session with the Bishop of Rome touching on a wide range of themes - from the link between greed and war, to arguments with siblings, and the role of religion in promoting peace in the world.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Following a private meeting at the Vatican with Pope Francis, who has helped to broker improved relations between Cuba and the United States, the president of the Caribbean nation suggested he could return to the Church in the future.

Did that title get your attention? I could have titled my column "Francis Is Coming," in anticipation of our Holy Father's visit to the United States September 22-27 of this year. The Holy Father has also just confirmed that he will make a pastoral visit to Cuba just prior to his arrival in the U.S. This will be a significant follow up to St. John Paul II's visit in 1998, in which I was privileged to participate.

Welcome to our new feature, Monday Morning Roundup, where we note a couple of interesting Catholic stories from the weekend to get you tuned up for the week.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - With the number of children raised in brokenness on the rise, young people view marriage as a path to failure - so Pope Francis says it's time for Christians to restore faith in the family.

KATHMANDU, NEPAL (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis led the crowds gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the weekly Regina Caeli address in praying for the victims of Saturday's earthquake in Nepal which has claimed thousands of lives.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis said Wednesday that marriage is a vocation all believers are called to defend, specifically in terms of the complementarity of the union between a man and a woman.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi S.J. confirmed to journalists today that Pope Francis will make a pastoral stop in Cuba ahead of his September apostolic voyage to the United States.

Washington D.C. (CNA) - What does it mean to be truly pro-life? Amid debates over abortion and the death penalty, Catholic ecologists say that one issue is often overlooked in discussions involving human life and dignity - the environment.

Vatican City (CNA/EWTN News) - Giving witness to Jesus Christ is more than mere advertising, Pope Francis said: it's the act of courage in proclaiming the Gospel "with frankness" even to the point of martyrdom.

Vatican City (CNA/EWTN News) - In a world marked by suffering and fierce persecution - especially of Christians - now "is the time for mercy," Pope Francis said, speaking at the vigil for the Feast of Divine Mercy.

ROME, ITALY (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis said Wednesday that children are never a mistake, and called adults out for building faulty systems that leave children exploited and abandoned, rather than treated as the blessings they are.