World News
True joy comes from doing God’s will, pope tells young people
Speaking Aug. 1 at the Medjugorje Marian festival, Pope Francis said Mary's surrender to the divine plan points the way to eternal fulfillment, despite hardships.
Pope names new members to Academy of Sciences
An epidemiologist, a chemist, and two physicists are the latest to join the Vatican entity, whose roots stretch back to the 17th century.
Bishops say Spain trying to ‘dismantle the Christian worldview’
The warning, part of a July 28 pastoral statement, said the European nation's "spiritual impoverishment" is fueling attempts to recent measures on "erase distinctions between truth and falsehood, reality and fiction, good and evil."
Two new Canadian Indigenous leaders to prioritize reconciliation
Following a reckoning with Canada's residential school legacy, Chief RoseAnne Archibald and Governor General Mary Simon are focusing on "a renewed sense of possibility" for their country.
Nicaragua’s crisis ‘is reaching flashpoint,’ says witness at Hill hearing
Political, economic and social repression are combining to destabilize the Central American nation, according to July 21 testimony echoing grave concerns expressed by the country's Catholic bishops.
Abortion in Northern Ireland threatens peace process, bishops say
The British government's unilateral moves to make full abortion services available by March 31 stand to disrupt "the fragile balance of relationships at the heart of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement," said Archbishop Eamon Martin and four other bishops.
Fifth Chinese bishop ordained with both government, papal approval
The July 28 ordination of Bishop Anthony Li Hui continues a Vatican-China agreement signed in 2018 and renewed in 2020, part of efforts to ensure greater freedom and security for the Catholic community in China.
In South Sudan, church works to keep young people off streets, drugs
Priests throughout the African nation are offering psychological and social support to children traumatized by years of political turmoil and, more recently, the pandemic.
At embezzlement trial, lawyers argue against Vatican jurisdiction
Attorneys for Cardinal Angelo Becciu and several other defendants say they need more time to prepare for the case, which stems from a failed property investment that lost millions for the Vatican.
Retired Pope Benedict criticizes church in Germany, says mission obscured
Without "the heart and the spirit" of the church present in its official texts, "the exodus from the world of faith will continue," the 94-year-old retired pope said in a recent interview with a German magazine.