World News
Young Catholic men learn ‘where they are going’ at country retreat
Quo Vadis Days helped 101 teenagers from diverse backgrounds and mostly from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia discern God’s call in their lives at a camp setting in Lancaster County.
Vatican appoints first woman rector of pontifical university in Rome
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Congregation for Catholic Education has named Angeline Franciscan Sister Mary Melone, 49, to a three-year term as rector of Rome's Pontifical Antonianum University, making her the first woman to head a pontifical university in Rome.
JRS keeps Afghanistan schools running, despite missing director
THRISSUR, India (CNS) -- Jesuit Refugee Service is keeping half a dozen schools in troubled Afghanistan running despite no trace of its coordinator in Afghanistan, who was kidnapped in early June.
Holy Land bishops criticize Israeli treatment of Palestinians
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Catholic leaders in the Holy Land called for an end to the cycle of violence and criticized Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its collective punishment of Palestinians.
Vatican names new bank president, restructures financial offices
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the restructuring of Vatican financial institutions moves into high gear, "our ambition is to become something of a model of financial management rather than a cause for occasional scandal," said Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy.
Vatican forms panel to revamp communications, media outreach
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Seven months after hiring a consulting firm to study the Vatican's communications structures, the Vatican has set up an 11-member committee -- which includes Our Sunday Visitor's Greg Erlandson -- to suggest ways to increase collaboration and cut costs.
The mafia and religion make headlines after pope’s condemnation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When the 30 men carrying a large statue of Mary and the hundreds of people accompanying the statue in southern Italy paused and bowed in front of the house of a presumed mafia boss, the local bishop denounced them as blasphemous.
Iraqi patriarch: Situation perhaps ‘darkest and most difficult period’
AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- The patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Baghdad called the current situation in his country "perhaps the darkest and most difficult period in (the church's) recent history."
Vatican budgets for 2013 show modest surplus
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican's final budget figures for 2013 showed a deficit on the part of the Roman Curia, but a strong performance by entities falling under the separate Vatican City State budget covered the deficit and helped the Vatican end the year 8.5 million euros ($11.6 million) in the black.
Chapter on abuse is not closed while people still suffer, says prelate
ROME (CNS) -- The crisis of child abuse by clergy is not a thing of the past -- it will linger until the church humbly and courageously reaches out to all people still suffering in silence, said Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.