World News
Vatican says no reason found to ‘preclude’ Chilean bishop’s nomination
The bishop had been accused of covering up for a priest who was known to have committed sexual abuse; some 3,000 demonstrators gathered outside and inside the Osorno cathedral March 21 to protest his installation as bishop.
Lebanon’s religious leaders affirm Christianity’s role in Middle East
In a joint statement issued March 30 at the conclusion of an interfaith summit in Bkerke, the seat of the Maronite Catholic Church north of Beirut, the religious leaders emphasized that the Christian presence "plays an essential role" in the identity of the region "and predates Islam by several centuries."
Legionaries apologize for video featuring students from elite academy
The professionally produced video shows male students in suits, sipping drinks, tending to a jaguar on a leash and carrying out a casting call in which young women attempt to win their affection. The women dance, strip, chase the students and even wash their feet.
Bishops of Philippines restate church stance against divorce
The president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines reiterated the church's stance against divorce days after a survey firm reported that six in 10 Filipinos favor it.
Catholic group opposes moves by Puerto Rico to allow same-sex marriage
Alianza Catolica por la Vida y por la Patria (Catholic Alliance For Life and Motherland) released a statement March 24 rejecting the government's recent move to recognize same-sex marriage as "the only alternative" to ensure citizen's equality.
Way of Cross takes Jesus’ point of view to help others carry crosses
People following the Stations of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum this year will be guided in an exercise of imagining what Jesus was thinking and feeling along the Via Dolorosa.
Vatican Palm Sunday recalls early Christian martyrs, brave sea captain
The Palm Sunday procession at the foot of an 85-foot-tall Egyptian obelisk in St. Peter's Square recalls the martyrdom of many early Christians and the fast-thinking foresight of an Italian Renaissance sea captain.
Imitate Jesus’ humility and service, pope says at Palm Sunday Mass
On a bright day at the Vatican, 70,000 people joined Pope Francis for Palm Sunday Mass, where he remembered modern-day martyrs and those who quietly care for others and "sacrifice themselves daily," following Jesus.
World Youth Day 2016 in Poland will offer ‘Message of Mercy’
A new airport, improved road and rail links, a fleet of dream buses and "Youth Bible" are among features projected for the Catholic Church's 14th international celebration of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, in 2016.
Jerusalem’s Armenians mark genocide in ancestral homeland a century ago
John Ourfali, 77, remembers how as a child he saw an elderly family friend break down and cry whenever he met with Ourfali's parents, unable to speak about what had happened to him and his family in the dark days of what today is known as the Armenian Genocide.