News
Coming papal letter on environment has a name: ‘Praised Be’
Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment will be titled "Laudato Sii" (Praised Be), a line from St. Francis of Assisi's "Canticle of Creatures," and will be released June 16.
Pope meets sick children and children of prison inmates
"We can ask the Lord, 'Why, Lord? Why do children suffer? Why this child?'" Pope Francis said to families of ill children during their visit to his home in Rome.
Pope Francis lists abortion, unsafe workplaces among ‘attacks on life’
Civilization's progress is measured "by its capacity to care for life, especially in its most fragile phases," the pope said, decrying society's "throwaway mentality."
Mural project gets community involved ahead of pope’s visit
A mural commemorating Pope Francis' visit and the World Meeting of Families in September will be painted in sections at several sites and installed at St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia.
Today’s teaching on the family
See the daily excerpt from the preparatory catechesis for the 2015 World Meeting of Families, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”
Congress urged to keep funding school choice
Washington, D.C., Catholic school students want Congress to reauthorize a program that since 2004 has given scholarships to 6,000 students in the city.
Key planner of families’ meeting faces criminal probe in Italy
Italian prosecutors are investigating charges of embezzlement for the Vatican archbishop heading the Pontifical Council for the Family. In Philadelphia, planning for the World Meeting of Families continues unaffected.
Evangelization demands experiencing God’s mercy first, pope says
In fact, how the church is educating people in the faith needs to go beyond classroom instruction and actually show them places where Christ is truly present and active in the world today, he said May 29.
Bishops in eastern Congo say they face ‘genocide … Balkanization’
"For more than 20 years, the eastern populations have fallen victim to war and insecurity -- in 2010, the victims numbered 6 million dead, and the toll continues," said the bishops from eastern South Kivu province.
Australian bishops: Redefining marriage would be ‘serious injustice’
On May 28, the bishops released a pastoral letter on same-sex marriage, which was fast-tracked for distribution given the impending introduction of draft legislation on same-sex marriage in the Australian Parliament.