Pope Francis told U.S. bishops on Wednesday they should avoid "harsh and divisive" language and create a church with the warmth of a "family fire" as he laid out a vision for American Catholicism far from the defensive stands on social issues that have put church leaders at the center of the culture wars.
At a prayer service at Washington's Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Francis told the bishops he was aware that "the field in which you sow is unyielding" and that there's a temptation "to think back on bygone times and to devise harsh responses to fierce opposition."
SPRING ARBOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Wednesday he welcomes immigrants to America, but they cannot alter "who we are."
The retired neurosurgeon, speaking at a Christian college in his native Michigan, said he wants to preserve the U.S. as "Judeo-Christian." He has blamed political correctness for the fallout over his recent statement against electing a Muslim president, which he later clarified by saying he would be open to a moderate Muslim who denounces radical Islam.
