World News
Priests criticized for helping community groups fight crime, block dam
MEXICO CITY (CNS) -- A pair of priests have been denounced to the Interior Ministry for allegedly stirring up social unrest in a southern Mexican state rife with violence and vigilante movements. Father Jesus Mendoza Zaragoza, vicar of the Archdiocese of Acapulco, told Catholic News Service the allegations against him and another priest, Father Mario Campos Hernandez, are false and politically motivated.
Pope asks people to consider what they desire most
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Yearning and loving give people the strength to move forward and overcome obstacles, but Christians must ask themselves what really is their hearts' desire, Pope Francis said.
His Holiness, the soccer fan, asks players to be real role models
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With admiration and big smiles all around, the lifelong soccer fan Pope Francis met the star players and coaches of the Argentine and Italian national soccer teams hoping to compete for the World Cup in 2014.
Pope to parents: Teach your children to respect, defend human life
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Respect for human life from conception until natural death is something children must be taught, not mainly with words, but by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said.
Latin American youth moved to take church to the streets following WYD
SAO PAULO (CNS) -- The nearly 3 million pilgrims who swept across Copacabana beach during the six-day celebration of World Youth Day returned home at the beginning of August with "clear instructions" from the Pope Francis. "Go against the tide," Pope Francis told the crowds on several occasions during the six-day celebration. "I ask you to be revolutionaries. ... Go beyond the church's walls. ... Go onto the streets, to poor communities. Don't be afraid to go and bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those who seem the farthest away."
Sri Lanka cardinal condemns army shooting of civilians in church
NEW DELHI (CNS) -- Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, Sri Lanka, expressed "shock and distress" in accusing the military of storming a Catholic church and firing on residents who had sought refuge there. The cardinal condemned the army's action in a strongly worded statement read Aug. 7 during the funeral for one of three people who died in the Aug. 1 incident at St. Anthony Parish in Weliweriya, a village just outside the capital.
Belarus church ‘deeply concerned’ about arrested priest
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Church spokesmen in Belarus said Catholics are "uneasy and disquieted" by the lack of information on the status of a parish priest arrested in early June for alleged spying. Father Vladislav Lazar, 46, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Borisov in central Belarus, remained in custody Aug. 8, weeks after he was taken into custody by the State Security Committee, or KBG.
Pope expands role, reach of Vatican Financial Intelligence Authority
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As part of the Vatican's ongoing efforts to ensure that all its financial activity complies with international standards, particularly those aimed at preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Pope Francis has expanded the role and the reach of the Vatican's Financial Intelligence Authority.
Before electing Pope Francis, cardinals heard plea for unity, holiness
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The last formal exhortation to the 115 cardinals who elected Pope Francis in March included reminders of the importance of presenting the Catholic faith in its entirety, the need to recognize the errors of church members and the need for unity within the Catholic community.
Canadian Catholic hospitals see dwindling support for care standards
TORONTO (CNS) -- Officials at Canada's largest Catholic hospitals and health services expressed concern that national health care standards are becoming a thing of the past after provincial and territorial leaders did not address the issue at their July Council of the Federation meetings.