News
Lebanon’s Maronite bishops condemn Islamist incursions
Lebanon's Maronite Catholic bishops underscored their "full confidence" in the country's military and security forces as the Lebanese army battled Islamist militants' incursion into Lebanon near the border with Syria.
In El Salvador, Jesuit program offers alternatives to gangs, emigration
Jonathan Sandoval saw opportunity in a metalworking lathe.
With no pope in residence, Vatican opens gardens of summer villa
The aisle is paved with stone from an ancient Roman road; the apse is made of carefully trimmed evergreen bushes; the columns are tall, thin cypress trees; and the nave is a lily pond, complete with gold fish.
Family love gives security, ability to hope for better world, pope says
A healthy society relies on citizens who learn love, responsibility, loyalty, acceptance of others and solidarity from their family relationships, Pope Francis said.
Pope asks for international action to help Iraq’s persecuted Christians
Pope Francis asked Catholics around the world to pray for tens of thousands of Christians from villages in northeastern Iraq who were forced from their homes in the middle of the night by Islamic State militants.
Three New York auxiliary bishops ordained on feast of patron of priests
The feast of St. John Vianney, patron of priests, was a fitting day for New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan to ordain three new auxiliary bishops for New York, the first to be appointed since the cardinal became archbishop of New York in 2009.
Pope’s finance chief talks Vatican reform
Pope Francis wants a "poor church for the poor," but that "doesn't necessarily mean a church with empty coffers," said Cardinal George Pell, "and it certainly doesn't mean a church that is sloppy or inefficient or open to being robbed."
Photo of the day
A protester and Orthodox clergyman light a petrol bomb during clashes with pro-government forces at Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, Aug. 7. Tensions flared in Kiev's Independence Square, the scene of street protests that toppled a Moscow-backed president in February, when protesters still camped there clashed with city workers who tried to clear away their tents. (CNS photo/Konstantin Chernichkin, Reuters)
First black priests in U.S. ‘opened door for rest of us,’ says pastor
Black Catholic bishops, priests, deacons and religious brothers who gathered in Mobile for an annual joint conference celebrated the 80th anniversary of the first class of black priests who were educated and ordained in the U.S.
Anderson says Knights’ efforts follow pope’s call to help world’s poor
As an international fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus is well-positioned to follow Pope Francis' witness of "love for the sick, the suffering and the poor," said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson.