National News
Tennessee bishops asks for prayers, relief help for victims of wildfires
Catholic parishioners in the Diocese of Knoxville are among those who have lost homes and businesses in the wildfires that ravaged tourist areas in the Great Smoky Mountains region.
Catholic college presidents pledge support for students with DACA status
The statement says it hopes "the students in our communities who have qualified for DACA are able to continue their studies without interruption."
Hundreds mourn beloved homeless man at funeral for him at Catholic church
Church families, neighbors, shopkeepers and perhaps even strangers touched by the cheerful kindness and generosity of the man who for years had made camp under a tarp on a street corner in San Francisco streamed into Star of the Sea Catholic Church to express their respect and affection.
For late actress Florence Henderson, Catholic faith was her foundation
In what came to be her final interview, actress Florence Henderson told St. Anthony Messenger magazine that throughout her life, through good times and bad, her Catholic faith was her foundation.
Supreme Court examines mental ability standards for death penalty
The court has previously ruled that the execution of the intellectually disabled violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, but it has largely left it up to the states to implement the ruling.
Advocates of refugees, immigrants seek to calm postelection fears
In the days following Trump's election as president, the Catholic Charities Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Diocese of Nashville began receiving calls from school counselors seeking assistance for how to talk with refugee children who are afraid of being sent back to the countries they fled.
Catholic leaders call on Congress to increase humanitarian aid in budget
The Catholic leaders wrote in support of a request by the Obama administration for Overseas Contingency Operations funds to address the growing needs of those forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters around the world or as a result of the ongoing fight against Islamic State militants.
Miami archbishop recalls Catholic persecution in Cuba, prays for peace
"The Cuban people are a noble people, but also a people who suffer," Archbishop Wenski said. "And now, on the eve of this first Sunday of Advent, to emphasize the words of Christ 'at the hour you least expect, the Son of Man will come,' we have learned that Fidel Castro has died."
Revelers in Little Havana seek new future for Cuba after Castro’s death
Though there was an undeniable sense of glee and Latin dancing in the streets, many of the revelers were quick to say they were celebrating the end of the principal symbol and founder of the Cuban communist dictatorship rather than anyone's passing away.
For Cuban exiles, painful memories mix with relief at Castro’s death
Despite the joy on the streets of Little Havana, Westchester and Hialeah, the death of Fidel Castro in 2016 means much less than it would have in 1976 or even 2006. An oppressive regime still shackles basic freedoms on the island.