News
Many prayers and dollars help Francis Fund ‘undo the knots of poverty’
The Knotted Grotto at the cathedral in Philadelphia is coming down but it will live on at two new Project HOME residences in the city, thanks to $1.4 million raised to honor Pope Francis' commitment to the poor.
Families need homilies connecting Gospel to real life, observer says
Catholics, she said, want their priest "to cover real facts of what's happening in the family and how important the family is today."
Ugandan bishops ask Catholics to prepare spiritually for papal visit
"The nature of this visit is primarily pastoral and spiritual," the bishops said in a letter signed by Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu, president of the Uganda Episcopal Conference.
French court dismisses genocide charges against priest; Rwanda not happy
"This decision lays bare a French court which claims to be independent, but merely serves as protector of a political and military class whose role led to the genocide," it said.
More open approach at synod can ease fear of manipulation, cardinal says
Greater emphasis on small-group discussions and incorporating that work into the synod's final draft document is helping alleviate any suspicion of the synod being manipulated, said one of the four synod presidents.
Church and society must learn from families, pope says at audience
Families bring needed values and a humanizing spirit to society and, when they mirror God's love for all, they teach the church how it should relate to all people, including the "imperfect," the pope said Oct. 7 during his weekly general audience.
Archbishop Chaput: Synod does include ‘lobbying’ in search of truth
Pope Francis told participants Oct. 6 "we should avoid thinking of each other as conspiring against one another, but to work for unity among the bishops," Archbishop Chaput told reporters at a synod press briefing at the Vatican Oct. 7.
South Carolina bishop asks for prayers, support for families affected by floods
Authorities said at least 14 people died and media reported that rescuers have had to pluck hundreds from swamped cars and flooded houses. Some residents remained in danger Oct. 6 from residual effects of saturated grounds that can unearth weakened trees and collapse roads.
Bishops, Vatican confirm Pope Francis will visit Mexico in 2016
Auxiliary Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcia of Puebla, conference secretary-general, told Catholic News Service that the pope would travel to Mexico next year, though dates and details were still to be determined.
Catholic, Lutheran leaders shaken by reports of harvesting of body parts from abortions
"Like millions of Americans, including those in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, we have been shaken to the core by what we have witnessed: intact babies, at times still alive, having their body parts harvested as a commodity," the statement said.