World News
Pope names cardinals, lay experts to new Council for the Economy
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis appointed an international group of eight cardinals -- including U.S. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston -- and seven lay experts in the fields of business, management and finance to be the first members of the Vatican's new Council for the Economy.
On first Friday of Lent, pope speaks on nature of true fasting
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis criticized those who practice fasting as a mere ritual, rather than as a sacrifice representative of a religion of love.
The pope said what about civil unions?
He actually didn’t say he favored civil unions for homosexual persons. He just spoke in generalities about the topic in Italian, according to an English language spokesman.
Pope talks to priests about mercy, hearing confession
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Repeating his frequent call to go out into the world and meet people where they are, Pope Francis told Rome's priests that their ministry of mercy through the sacrament of penance, is especially needed by "people who have left the church because they don't want anyone to see their wounds."
Pope confesses to taking his late confessor’s cross
During an informal chat with Roman priests about the need to be merciful to their flocks, Pope Francis confessed to taking the rosary cross of his late confessor. Read the full story from the Associated Press here.
Uganda’s bishops reviewing country’s anti-gay law, says church official
CAIRO (CNS) -- Uganda's Catholic bishops have begun reviewing a text of the country's new anti-gay law in order to come up with "an educated" response, said a senior church official.
Lent comes ‘to reawaken us,’ pope says at Ash Wednesday Mass
ROME (CNS) -- Lent is meant to wake up Christians and help them see that God can give them the strength to change their lives and their surroundings, Pope Francis said.
Catholic clergy in Crimea defend Ukraine’s right to self-determination
OXFORD, England (CNS) -- Catholic clergy in Crimea have defended Ukraine's right to self-determination.
Pope, in interview, suggests church could tolerate some civil unions
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis suggested the Catholic Church could tolerate some types of nonmarital civil unions as a practical measure to guarantee property rights and health care. He also said the church would not change its teaching against artificial birth control but should take care to apply it with "much mercy."
For Buenos Aires’ working class, Carnival makes a comeback
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNS) -- Paula Zanarini has not worked for two years. She blames her age, 38, for an inability to find or keep the jobs she had as a customer service representative for several telecom companies in Argentina.