World News
Cardinal confirms some priests decline appointment as bishop
Although the number is not high, it is no longer "exceptional" to have priests turn down an appointment as bishop, said Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
U.S. scholar: Bible texts taken out of context lead to fundamentalism
Most people have never heard a homily preached on Deuteronomy 20:10-18. It's kind of difficult to apply these God-given rules of war to daily life in the 21st century.
Former garbage picker challenges eucharistic congress to help poor
Maria Georgia "Maggie" Cogtas of Cebu told of a childhood without playing, only tough work as a garbage picker at dumpsites, construction sites and on the streets.
With unemployment more than 80 percent, Zimbabweans struggle for basics
In Zimbabwe's hospitals and other health facilities, "patients need to pay for everything: painkillers, drips, injections and scans," said Getrude Chimange, coordinator of the justice and peace commission in Mutare Diocese.
More than 1,000 missionaries of mercy will serve during jubilee
More than 1,000 "missionaries of mercy" from all over the world will receive a special mandate from Pope Francis to preach and teach about God's mercy, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
Power corrupts because the powerful don’t recognize sin, pope says
"All of us who have any power, whether it is ecclesiastical, religious, economic or political power," he said, have an easier risk of becoming corrupt "because the devil makes us feel certain 'I can do it myself.'"
German, Austrian bishops urge their countries to keep accepting refugees
"We need a reduction in numbers, but fixing an upper limit would be difficult," Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier told the Trierischer Volksfreund daily Jan. 27.
Rapid biotech progress risks focus on profit, not ethics, pope says
Biotechnology in the medical field must "never be used in a way that is harmful to human dignity nor driven only by manufacturing and commercial aims," he said in an audience Jan. 28 with members of the Italian National Bioethics Committee.
Chaldean patriarch details acts of discrimination against Christians
In his written text, Patriarch Sako said the current "miserable situation" in Iraq was due to the "intervention of external 'players'" with their own ambitions in the region.
Follow example of Pope Francis, church leaders say at eucharistic congress
The pope's envoy to the congress, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, told reporters Jan. 27 that the Eucharist should compel people to share with the less fortunate.