News
Pope meet with Israel’s Netanyahu, discusses Middle East peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel Dec. 2, and discussed prospects for peace in the Middle East and the pope’s still-unscheduled trip to the Holy Land. The two met privately for about 25 minutes in the pope’s library. A statement from the Vatican press office said the […]
Pope Francis declares 2015 dedicated to religious life
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- During a three-hour meeting with 120 superiors general of men's religious orders, Pope Francis said the church would make consecrated life its focus in 2015. Consecrated men and women "can wake up the world," the pope said at a closed-door meeting during which he listened to the superiors and responded to their questions.
German bishops eye guidelines for divorced Catholics to take Communion
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country's bishops' conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope's endorsement.
Current state of U.S. immigration ‘an offense against God,’ say bishops
SAN ANTONIO (CNS) -- In a new pastoral letter "Family Beyond Borders," the bishops of the border region of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico humanize the immigration debate by placing it in a moral context with specific illustrations of struggling children and families.
USCCB evangelization chair, others laud pope’s apostolic exhortation
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" ("The Joy of the Gospel") is winning plenty of praise, and not exclusively in Catholic circles. The pope "is showing us how to live the Gospels and reach out to the world with what every person needs, a relationship with God," said Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wis., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis.
Syrian refugees: Aid agencies adapt, begin plans to resettle some
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With an estimated 6.5 million Syrians -- one-third of the country's population -- displaced from their homes, aid agencies are scrambling to meet needs that go beyond traditional emergency assistance. Many people are crowding into established cities and towns, taxing services like electricity, water and sewage systems, and overcrowding schools.
Black Catholics’ history, heritage given special notice each November
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Black Catholics have made their mark on the Catholic Church in its more than 2,000-year history and the U.S. church's observance of Black Catholic History Month each November calls to mind those contributions, an official of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said as the special observance for 2013 was coming to a close.
Priest says ministry in L.A. prepared him for strife-ridden Egypt
CAIRO (CNS) -- A Comboni priest ministering to young people in Cairo refuses attempts by well-meaning colleagues and friends to brand him "a hero." "To be a hero, go to South Central L.A.," he tells them, referencing the 12-years he spent in Los Angeles working with homeless people and juvenile gangs beginning in 1991.
To better evangelize, Pope Francis turns church’s gaze within
Bishops repeatedly cited the threat of militant secularism in a post-Christian West. But in writing "The Gospel of Joy," Pope Francis focused mostly on the shortcomings of the church herself. He pointed out problems that impede the church's mission to "elicit a positive response from all those whom Jesus summons to friendship with him."
Pope expected to proclaim sainthood of Jesuit companion of St. Ignatius
The decree is likely to take the form of an "equivalent canonization," in which the pope inserts the name of the new saint in the universal calendar of saints without verifying a miracle performed through his intercession and without holding a formal canonization ceremony.