News

Mother, daughter killed in crash recalled for devotion to faith, family

Yvonne Selke and her daughter, Emily, were two of the three Americans killed in the March 24 crash of an Airbus jet March 24. The identity of the third American has not yet been released.

Honoree calls religious liberty ‘most fundamental freedom in society’

Religious liberty is "the most fundamental freedom in society" and it is at "the very core of the human condition," attorney and scholar Joseph Weiler told an audience at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

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.”

Archbishop: ‘Use energy’ of Selma anniversary to heal today’s divisions

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, in a statement at the end of Mass, urged those in the congregation to "use the energy of this anniversary to finish the work of healing divisions that remain and ending the cycles of violence that grip too many of our communities."

Tunisia archbishop appeals for Western Catholic support

The head of Tunisia's Catholic Church urged Western Catholics not to abandon his country despite fears of further Islamist violence after a bloody terrorist attack on tourists in the famed Bardo National Museum in its capital.

Militias protect South Sudan farmers in church-sponsored farm projects

Much of the world knows there's a war in South Sudan, a bloody feud between two rival politicians and their respective ethnic groups.

Three months after amputation, Trenton bishop to say Palm Sunday Mass

It was just over two weeks following surgery to amputate his lower left leg when Trenton Bishop David M. O'Connell publicly declared his rehabilitation goal.

Philippine lawmakers pledge to block proposed divorce law

"The proposal to legalize divorce will not pass under my watch," said House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., reported the Asian Catholic news portal ucanews.com.

Catholic schools oppose tax proposal they say threatens their survival

As part of a comprehensive reform of its tax structure, the Puerto Rican government proposes replacing the current sales tax of 7 percent with a value-added system that would amount to a 16 percent tax, which Catholic school officials say would hurt Catholic education particularly, and private education generally, when applied to tuition, lunches, uniforms and textbooks.

English cardinal urges debate on family synod to stay out of the press

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster urged priests to end debating the upcoming synod on the family in the press after more than 450 priests published a letter calling on the Catholic Church to retain the prohibition on divorced and remarried Catholics receiving holy Communion.