World News
Popes Francis, Benedict receive their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine
While Pope Francis received the vaccine Jan. 13, the retired pope's secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, said that Pope Benedict, 93, received his shot Jan. 14.
Priest who knew clergy killed in El Salvador asks for justice
Over 28 years Father Manuel Acosta has seen much violence. But he's still visibly shaken over the recent unexplained killing of three priests in less than three years. All were his former students.
Irish inquiry: Families mistreated unmarried moms; others complicit
A commission investigating the treatment of unmarried mothers in Ireland said the blame for their "harsh treatment" over 70 years rests with their families, but that both the church and state condoned this.
Human rights organizations call for solution to Bosnian migrant crisis
A Jesuit rights group was among those calling on the Bosnian government to care for some 1,000 migrants stranded in sub-zero temperatures awaiting relocation after their camp burned down.
Peace only way to face global crises, Vatican U.N. nuncio says
The COVID-19 pandemic requires a united global response that shuns nationalistic interests and creates long-lasting solutions, said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia at the United Nations.
In message for World Sick Day, pope calls for health care for all
Praying for the sick and those who help them, Pope Francis called on Christians to practice what they preach, including by guaranteeing equal access to health care for all people.
Christians lift others up by listening, sharing God’s love, pope says
Jesus saves, not with "a show of force" but "by coming to meet us and taking our sins upon himself," the pope said Jan. 10, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Because Jesus wants to be with sinners "he gets in line with them" at his baptism "to immerse himself in the same condition we are in."
Pope too felt ‘caged’ during lockdown, but ‘took life as it came’
Pope Francis reflected on the COVID-19 restrictions and said that receiving the COVID vaccine, when available, was "the ethical option because you are playing with your health, life, but you also are playing with the lives of others."
Pope amends canon law so women can minister as lectors, acolytes
Recognizing "the gifts of each baptized person" -- women and men -- Pope Francis changed canon law and liturgical norms so that women could be formally installed as lectors and acolytes and not under "temporary designation," as is current practice.
Pope says he was ‘astonished’ by violence at Capitol
The pope urged government leaders "and the entire population to maintain a high sense of responsibility in order to soothe tempers, promote national reconciliation and protect the democratic values rooted in American society."