Heart to Heart

Despite war, ‘Lebanon Faith Tours’ aims to showcase country’s beauty

Antonio El Helou, the 22 year-old founder of Lebanon Faith Tours, tells Vatican News that international travellers should “not be afraid” of visiting the country’s historic religious sites.

Nigeria: Sisters providing a space for rest, renewal and human growth to all

Among their other busy Apostolates of Education, Health Care, Pastoral and Social services, the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), Southern Nigerian Region, are providing an enabling environment, suitable for rest, spiritual renewal and human growth to all, including priests, religious and lay people from all walks of life.

Three days by boat: A missionary bishop at the ends of the earth

He walks while praying before the Blessed Sacrament because if he stops, the mosquitoes make prayer impossible. Only 5 percent of his diocese is land; the rest is water. Reaching some communities can take up to three days by boat. “It really is the end of the world,” Bishop Jacek Tendej of the Diocese of Alotau-Sideia in Papua New Guinea told Vatican News ahead of World Mission Sunday.

Cardinal Bernardin: An example for the Church and the world

Thirty years after the death of Joseph Louis Cardinal Bernardin, archbishop of Chicago from 1982 to 1996, the Italian archdiocese of Trento has organized various events in memory of the prelate, whose origins lie in the region.

Building bridges between faith and education in Kazakhstan

In a small village in Northern Kazakhstan in Central Asia, a school founded by a German priest is nurturing intercultural understanding, interreligious dialogue and technological skills, offering young people the confidence to shape their own future.

Kenya: Women must no longer ask for permission from anyone

At the Koinonia Community’s 'Salama' Center in Nairobi, Kenya, young mothers are learning vocational skills and striving for self-reliance after enduring harrowing pasts. The stories of Daisy, Eva, and Damaris offer a detailed look at how one learns to see a different side of Nairobi’s famous informal settlement.

OLA Sisters turning ecological commitment into action in Africa

For the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles (OLA), care for creation is not simply an environmental concern. It is part of their missionary vocation: caring for people, protecting the earth and responding to the needs of communities. Across Africa, this commitment is taking concrete form in gardens, fields, tree-planting initiatives, environmental education and advocacy.

Kenya: Emmanuel’s future begins with the keyboard

At the 'Tone la Maji' centre, meaning “a drop of water,” street children in southern Nairobi, Kenya, explore their talents and dreams for life, as recounted by our correspondent during a recent visit.

St Augustine’s reservations about ‘just war’

As the debate over the concept of ‘just war’ continues, it is important to understand St Augustine's positions in all the complexity of their historical context and as part of his broader vision.

Discovering Robert Schuman's work for peace and unity as Pope arrives in Metz

As Pope Leo XIV visits the French border city of Metz, we recall the legacy of Venerable Robert Schuman, one of the founders of the European Union, who worked tirelessly for peace and the common good after World War II.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen: A 'master of modern media'

Amid the noise of our media-driven world, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, reflects on what Archbishop Fulton Sheen called “the most important conversation in a human life”—the one that takes place “in the depths of the heart.”

Who was Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen?

In the run-up to his beatification, the Executive Director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation explores the life and legacy of this famous evangelizer.

Dominican Sisters engage in intercultural dialogue in Buryatia

Buryatia is the heart of Siberian Asia and a land of extreme contrasts: forty-degree frosts coexist with the warmth and hospitality of local residents, while Buddhist monasteries and shamanic places of worship stand alongside Christian churches. In this mosaic of peoples and faiths, the community of the Dominican Sisters has become not just a visible sign of Jesus Christ, but also an active participant in intercultural dialogue.

How a Polish nun became known as 'mother of children' in Senegal

In the Pulaar language, 'Néné Soukabé' means 'mother of children.' This name stuck to the Polish missionary, Sister Chrysologa Mnich SMCB, shortly after she opened a Сenter for malnourished children in the Senegalese town of Vélingara.

Bishop Berardi: Gulf Christians called to be witnesses of peace

The Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia says Gulf Christians are called to be witnesses of peace, unity and the Gospel as conflict and tensions continue to escalate across the region.

Bishop Twal: Jordan is a message of coexistence

In this interview with Vatican Media's Andrea Tornielli, Bishop Iyad Twal, the Vicar of the Latin Patriarchate – who lives in Amman – stresses that “unless there is justice and peace for the Palestinian people, we will always live in a state of crisis”.

Fr. Madej on 30 years among Muslims: 'I never felt like an outsider'

After nearly 30 years of ministry in Turkmenistan as a missionary, Fr. Andrzej Madej, OMI, tells Vatican News that his goal was to build relationships with all people based on respect and peace, since 'where Christ comes, love comes with Him.'

Cardinal Pizzaballa: The West Bank is a 'lawless land'

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke on the final day of the Rimini Meeting, calling for greater diplomatic engagement by the West to halt the escalating violence in the Middle East. He also reiterated the need to build hope and foster interreligious dialogue from the ground up, rejecting the dehumanization of the other and supporting the two-state solution.

First woman rector of a shrine: Witnessing to the Gospel through listening

At the Rimini Meeting, we spoke with Anna Medeossi, who has been entrusted with the care of Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria, about her story of encounter, faith, and listening.

Papal Almoner’s Office supports solidarity kitchen in Ukraine

On Thursday, August 20, 2026, Father Viktor Bilous, a staff member of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine, visited a solidarity kitchen in the village of Berestia, in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine and delivered aid to the volunteers on behalf of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. In an interview with Vatican News, he speaks about this initiative.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was ‘a testament to life in the face of death’

In the month the Church celebrates the liturgical memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Catholics in the United States continue to pray for his intercession as they work to honor life through opposition to the death penalty.

Roseline Hamel and Nassera Kermiche: Beyond sorrow

On the sidelines of the 2026 Rimini Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, Roseline Hamel and Nassera Kermiche, who have come to be known as “sisters in sorrow', speak to Vatican News about the tragedy that unites them. Roseline is the sister of Fr Jacques Hamel, the French priest who was killed while celebrating Mass in a terrorist attack in 2016. Nassera is the mother of one of the two teenagers who perpetrated the attack and was subsequently shot dead by police.

Tanzania: Religious women evangelize through Television and social media

As technology and communication continue to evolve, the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Usambara (COLU) in Tanzania is increasingly using media as a tool for evangelization. Through television and social networks, the sisters seek to share the Gospel, engage young people, and respond to questions about the Catholic faith.

Spanish nurse gives Pope a book on her brother: 'His life had meaning because of love'

Elisabet Argemí, a nurse from ICOF Hospital Clínic in Barcelona, spoke briefly with Pope Leo at Castel Gandolfo and gave him 'Learning to Die in Order to Live', a book that recounts the testimony of her brother, Xavier Argemí, who died at the age of 29 from muscular dystrophy.

One Polish sister's life of service and spiritual promotion

The vocational journey to religious life is unique for every consecrated woman. Sr. Małgorzata Cur, of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate, shares her journey of faith and how her life of service has touched many people. Her path was influenced early by the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, who served in her home parish.

In the footsteps of St. Rita: A Brazilian woman on mission in Italy

Sister Maria Atília Collet has found in the saint of impossible causes a guiding light for her own life and that of thousands of pilgrims. Before arriving in Roccaporena, the Italian town where Saint Rita was born in 1381, her religious mission took her from inland Brazil to Italy, Portugal, Spain and Mozambique. She spent over 15 years in the African country, where she deepened the human and spiritual experience that today guides her in welcoming pilgrims.

Choose life: Catholic nun brings hope in rural Zimbabwe

Hope has been reborn in Matabele, in southern Zimbabwe, a windy and dry land which stands in silence and whose inhabitants had lost hope when the HIV and AIDS pandemic reached its peak in Africa. Sr. Ludbirga Schumacher’s heart was touched by their plight and founded the Sketimpilo Centre, with many other religious sisters following in her footsteps.

'Algorithmization' of life and preserving human dignity

Bruno Giussani, author of a book on artificial intelligence’s impact on our lives, reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s Message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, “Preserving Human Voices and Faces.”

Religious sisters living mission and faith in highlands of Argentina

In northern Argentina, the Diocesan Missionaries Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church are making the dream of a synodal and missionary Church a reality as they live among the region’s indigenous people, sharing in their culture, offering pastoral care, and coexisting with the challenges of their territory.

Coaching the Boston Celtics with the spirit of a deacon

NBA Coach of the Boston Celtics, Joseph Mazzulla, stresses how indebted he is to God for the ability to bring together all his passions - family, faith, and basketball - and live out his dream job, all while keeping his faith at the center of his life.