Catholic World News

The bishops of France have announced their opposition to Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s proposal to ban the wearing of burqas in public institutions. An estimated 1,900 women in France currently...

Less than five years after Kyrgyzstan’s ‘Tulip Revolution’ raised hopes that the central Asian nation would embrace greater democratic reforms, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has signed a law...

A day after Pope Benedict praised the British bishops for opposing an Equality Bill that threatens religious freedom, Stephen Hughes, a Catholic member of the European Parliament, offered public...

The Haitian Conference of Religious has drafted a report on the losses suffered by religious communities during the January 12 earthquake. The Little Sisters of St. Teresa sustained the greatest...

Two weeks after L’Osservatore Romano reprinted an article by Bernard-Henri Lévy blasting media caricatures of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Pius XII, the Vatican newspaper has reprinted an article by...

The Vox Clara committee, set up to supervise the English translation of liturgical texts, met in Rome last week to review the latest translations of the Roman Missal which have been approved by the...

A new study has demonstrated that classroom programs that promote sexual abstinence are successful in reducing the likelihood that students will engage in pre-marital sexual activity. Sex-education...

Catholic students who attend Catholic colleges and universities in the US are more likely to move away from the faith than to deepen their commitment, a new study shows. The study found that 32%...

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has drawn the attention of Russian Orthodox bishops to the need for partnership with the Catholic Church in defending traditional Christian moral principles. We have...

Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, has announced his determination to reverse a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled that the classroom display of a crucifix violated...

A German Jesuit provincial has admitted that the order received complaints of sexual abuse by priests in Jesuit schools as early as 1981, but failed to respond. The apology by Father Stefan Dartmann...

The Pontifical Council for Health Care will mark the 25th anniversary of its founding with a seminar that will focus on how different religions approach the question of human pain and suffering. The...

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has encouraged his fellow natives of Ghana who are living abroad to return to their homeland. The...

Responding to the news that the Catholic Charities office in Albany, New York has begun a needle-distribution program for drug addicts, canonist Edward Peters questions whether such an approach can...

A British government source has told the Daily Telegraph that following Pope Benedict’s recent comments to the bishops of England and Wales, the government will withdraw the controversial provisions...

Vermont’s sole diocese has decided to sell its 32-acre headquarters-- valued at $6 million-- and other property in the hope of funding settlements for 25 pending lawsuits. Most of the lawsuits stem...

The third and final paternity claim against Paraguayan President Fernando Armindo Lugo Méndez, a former bishop, has been withdrawn. A campaign worker who had claimed that the president fathered her...

In 1992, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith taught “there are areas in which it is not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account, for example, in the placement of...

A Glenmary Home Missioner has been charged with first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian after a 28-year-old man alleged that he was abused in 1991....

Two academic departments at a Catholic college in Indiana list Planned Parenthood on their “career options and resources” pages. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, St. Mary’s...

After devoting the previous week's general audience to St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Benedict XVI turned to St. Dominic at his Wednesday audience on February 3. The Pope noted that St. Dominic was...

Consecrated religious "represent a kind of bridge toward God for everyone they meet," Pope Benedict XVI said on February 2 as he presided at a Vespers service in St. Peter's basilica for the feast...

The Archdiocese of Boston has launched a special initiative to promote the sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent, announcing that priests will hear confessions at every parish church and chapel of...

A Catholic weekly, Gosc Niedzielny, tops the latest circulation figures among Poland's periodicals. The Catholic magazine, sponsored by the Katowice archdiocese, bumped a leftist magazine, Polityka,...

Bishop Raymond Wang Chonglin of Zhaoxian, who spent 21 years in prison for his involvement with the "underground" Church but was later accepted by the government, has died of a cerebral hemorrhage...

Five months after Dino Boffo, the editor of the Italian bishops’ newspaper, resigned following a press report that he was a “renowned homosexual,” the editor of the newspaper in which the report...

Quoting the Second Vatican Council and statements from Pope Benedict and the US bishops, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore called for the elimination of nuclear weapons in a February 3 address...

Researchers using a kind of MRI scan called functional magnetic resonance imaging have found that some patients diagnosed as “vegetative” are able to answer questions internally. One patient was...

The current issue of Origins includes the “Social Networking Protocol for the Catholic Church in Australia,” which was recently issued by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. “While...

A priest from Ghana who served at a parish in a Wisconsin diocese has been charged with fourth-degree sexual assault. A 47-year-old woman alleges that Father Edmund Donkor-Baine assaulted her in...

A Catholic college in California has named its Vanessa Bedient and Molly Reidelberger Scholarship for Excellence in Poetry after a Planned Parenthood director and a longtime Planned Parenthood...

Earlier this week, CWN reported that Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles was questioned for 5 hours before a federal grand jury. That report was inaccurate. Cardinal Mahony's testimony came in a...

In his message for Lent, Pope Benedict XVI cautions against a purely secular approach to achieving justice in society. While Jesus "surely condemns the indifference that even today forces...

Harry Knox, the gay-rights activist who serves on President Obama's advisory council for faith-based initiatives, has refused to back away from his stament that Pope Benedict XVI is "hurting people...

Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, the apostolic nuncio in Ireland, has been called to appear before the foreign-affairs committee of the Irish parliament, to answer questions about the Vatican's response...

In greetings to participants and organizers of the Winter Olympics games, Pope Benedict XVI has voiced his hope that "sport may always be a valued building block of peace and friendship between...

In Juarez, Father Hesiquio Trevizio reports, "None of us are entirely safe from organized crime. Not even priests." CNN offers a glimpse of his life as a pastor in a region plagued by the drug...

How should loyal Catholics in China approach the "official" Church sanctioned by the Beijing government? Cardinal Joseph Zen has warned against cooperation with the regime; Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone...

Government leaders in India's state of Orissa are threatening to force Christians out of a shanty town they have occupied since fleeing from their homes to escape the religious violence of August...

Denouncing the embrace of secularism that has characterized some European and North American religious communities in recent decades, Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes...

Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau et Miragoâne, president of Caritas Haiti, told a press conference in Rome on February 3 that last month’s earthquake has left 180,000 dead, 185,000 injured,...

Joined by Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster offered Mass in the...

The police chief of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is alleging that Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee spoke untruthfully to the state senate judiciary committee on January 12 about the Diocese of La...

Following the publication of an article in the Italian magazine 30 Giorni, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun has defended his criticism of Communist China’s Catholic Patriotic Association and his support...

The health services office of a Catholic college in Minnesota has listed Planned Parenthood among its “hot links for health and medical information.” Also included on the College of St....

Speaking to a group of visiting Scottish bishops on February 5, Pope Benedict XVI urged them to combat the "rising tide of secularism in your country." The Holy Father observed that the corrosive...

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, has issued a statement to "warmly welcome" news that an agreement has been struck settling the questions of policing and power-sharing in...

The US Senate judiciary committee has postponed a vote on the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice department. Johnsen's nomination by President Obama has...

Christian Aid has presented a petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alastair Darling, calling for prompt action to eliminate the foreign debt owed by Haiti. The Christian Aid petition,...

Luca Volonte, an Italian pro-lifer, has been elected chairman of the European People's Party, defeating a liberal rival. The new chairman was immediately presented with a number of challenges on...

Nearly 100 German priests and Church lay workers-- only 30 of whom have faced prosecution-- are suspected of abusing children, according to a survey of German dioceses conducted by Der Spiegel. “The...

Archbishop Paciano Aniceto of San Fernando, president of the Philippine bishops’ Commission on Family and Life, denounced efforts by the United Nations and the UnitedS States to promote population...

A leading Anglican prelate has dismissed Pope Benedict’s decision to create ordinariates in which Anglican communities that seek full communion with the Holy See would be permitted to retain...

The heads of five Catholic relief agencies have urged three US cabinet secretaries to increase American efforts to protect Haitian children who are unaccompanied by adults. “Family tracing...

Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has completed an eight-year, $14.5-million restoration of the world’s oldest monastery, which was founded by disciples of St. Anthony (251-356), the patriarch...

An increasing number of video games are glorifying Satan, according to an article posted on the web site of Johnette Benkovic’s Living His Life Abundantly. In one game (Tecmo’s Deception: Invitation...

The president of the US bishops' conference has issued a reminder that New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that works with homosexuals and lesbians, "has no approval or recognition from the...

This week's meeting of the Pontifical Academy for Life could produce fireworks, according to veteran Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister, because some members of the Academy have lost confidence in...

The accused murderer of a 12-year-old Christian girl may escape punishment, because lawyers are being threatened with death if they aid the prosecution, according to the Center for Legal Aid...

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, has ordered a parish priest not to allow a dissident group, Australian Reforming Catholics, to hold its annual meeting in a church hall. The meeting was to...

A massive congregation estimated at over 20,000 people gathered for the funeral of Bishop Raymond Wang Chnglin of Zhaoxian on February 8. The bishop, who died at the age of 88, had spent 21 years in...

Reconciliation cannot come to India's troubled Orissa state unless the Christian minority receives justice after a series of violent attacks, said the region's leading Catholic prelate. Archbishop...

A Christian man who spent 7 months in a Saudi prison after being found guilty of "proselytizing" reports that religious freedom is unknown in the country. Brian Savio O'Connor said that the Saudi...

A noted German Marian theologian has raised new questions about the authenticity of the reported apparitions at Medjugorje. In an interview with the German newspaper Die Tagespost (translated into...

Looking forward to Pope Benedict's September trip to Great Britain, Time magazine notes that the Holy Father's toughly worded statement against provisions of the "Equality Law" will ensure a lively...

Pope Benedict XVI met on February 6 with representatives of Rome's power company, ACEA, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The Pontiff praised the firms for its "commitment to protecting...

Pope Benedict XVI met on February 8 with members of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who have gathered for their plenary meeting under the direction of the council's president' Cardinal Ennio...

Meeting on February 6 with a new ambassador from Guatemala to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the country's "abundant spiritual heritage," and particularly the Marian devotion that has...

Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has indicated that he will not be deterred by critics-- including many within the Irish clergy-- who have complained about his willingness to criticize colleagues...

During his Angelus audience on Sunday, February 7, Pope Benedict XVI said that sinful man must "recognize his own poverty and inadequacy, his own limits and sin," in order to open himself up to "the...

Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, has told a UN commission that population growth, rather than population control, can...

Speaking at a Vatican symposium, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that an ecumenical catechism would help Catholics and members of...

When the Irish hierarchy meets with Pope Benedict on February 15 and 16, Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, will deliver a letter from representatives for abuse...

On February 10 and 11, the parliament of the northeastern Australian state of Queensland will debate a measure that would allow surrogate mothers to bear children for single men, single women, and...

El Salvador’s leading prelate warned that the rampant violence afflicting his Central American nation “threatens to overwhelm society.” In January, an average of 13 people were murdered every...

A prominent priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn has been placed on administrative leave after federal officials said he was under investigation for allegedly viewing Internet child pornography. Msgr....

The Vatican has issued a highly unusual public statement denying any involvement in the scandal that prompted the resignation of a Catholic newspaper editor last year. Responding to reports that...

The Archdiocese of Washington, DC, has criticized a decision by the city's Board of Elections, barring a voter referendum on legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The Board ruled that a...

A Vietnamese Catholic priest imprisoned for his human-rights advocacy is in "rapidly deteriorating" condition, according to the US Commission on Religious Freedom. Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly, who...

Continuing a line of criticism of the US bishops' conference for its alliances with left-wing groups, Deal Hudson of Inside Catholic questions why the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is...

Describing the present state of the Anglican Communion is one of “chaos-- local schisms, outside interventions,” the Archbishop of Canterbury, issued a plea for unity amid doctrinal differences over...

The Department of Homeland Security has admitted that it improperly gathered intelligence on pro-life and pro-abortion groups in Wisconsin before a February 6, 2009 rally, even though the groups...

Demanding government protection from the protests of Muslim extremists and the hostility of local officials, representatives of the Indonesian bishops and Protestant communities rallied at the...

A report prepared for the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia has found that Anglicanism in Canada is “one generation away from extinction.” Between 1961 and 2001, the ecclesial community lost 53%...

The “resource toolkit” of a handbook published by a Catholic college in California includes only one pregnancy-related resource: the Planned Parenthood Kearny Mesa Clinic in San Diego. According to...

UN relief organizers in Haiti are asking voodoo priests to help with their efforts to rebuild the country. A spokesman explains that "community leaders obviously have a role to play to help the...

An Australian man faces criminal charges in connection with an assisted suicide. Merin Neilsen was arrested and charged with importing a controlled drug to help Frank Ward end his own life last...

The Vatican has released the schedule for an April visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Malta. The papal trip will coincide with celebrations marking the 1950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck on the...

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter profiles Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, who has been capturing attention in Rome for his lively...

Pope Benedict XVI met on February 10 with a delegation from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and said that after years of productive ecumenical talks, the time has come "to harvest the...

At his regular weekly public audience on February 10, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about St. Anthony of Padua, the 13th-century Franciscan who is "one of the most popular saints of the Catholic...

As the Irish bishops prepare for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI to discuss the sex-abuse scandal in their country, a group of abuse victims has asked the Pope to replace all bishops who were...

Four of the bishops of Sri Lanka’s 11 dioceses, joined by two Anglican leaders, have signed a statement criticizing the recent presidential election. According to the official results of the...

Solidaridad, a Dutch development agency that works in Latin America, has broken all ties with the Dutch bishops after the bishops’ conference sought assurance that the agency’s aid programs not...

A year after the Church in Taiwan commemorated the 150th anniversary of the nation’s evangelization, the nation’s bishops have called upon the faithful to take part in the evangelization of the...

Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker (Oregon) has told LifeSiteNews that he questions the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ association with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, a coalition...

Alabama’s Bureau of Health Provider Standards has placed a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic on probation for violating the state’s parental consent law. Following an investigation, state and...

Four of the “sexual health resources” on the University of San Francisco health promotion service’s web site-- including resources on birth control and pregnancy tests-- recommend contacting the...

February 11 is a holiday at the Vatican, with most offices closed in celebration of the 81st anniversary of the Lateran Accords, which established the sovereign Vatican city-state. The Lateran...

This week's heated Vatican denial of any involvement in the ouster of an Italian Catholic newspaper editor is only the latest in a series of conflicts between the Secretariat of State and the...

Continuing a series of attacks on the political ties between the US bishops' conference and various leftist groups, Deal Hudson of Inside Catholic raises the question of whether American Catholics...

As the Catholic Church observes the annual World Day of the Sick, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care pointed out that the Church administers more than 25% of all the world's...

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in St. Peter's basilica on February 11 as the Church observed the World Day of the Sick, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In his homily the Holy Father said: "The...

Joan Vennochi, a Boston Globe columnist who identifies herself as "pro-choice," writes that the abortion lobby harmed its own cause by seeking to block the Super Bowl broadcast of a pro-life...

In a 1997 report to the American bishops, Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis documented “a pattern of doctrinal deficiencies” in the catechetical texts he had reviewed. Over a dozen years...

Stating that “the process for the selection of the next Archbishop of Los Angeles has already begun,” Auxiliary Bishop Edward Clark of Los Angeles announced in a memorandum that 74-year-old Cardinal...

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the Rhode Island Catholic congressman whom Bishop Thomas Tobin publicly called to “conversion and repentance” because of his support for abortion, has decided not to run for...

The bishops of New Mexico have announced their opposition to a state senate measure that would include food among the items covered by the state sales tax. “This is a tax on the poorest people...

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh and Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte are urging North Carolina’s Catholics to oppose the state Department of Public Instruction’s revised civics and economics...

The Vatican has announced that an ordinary consistory will be held on February 19 to approve plans for the canonization of six new saints, including Blessed Andre Bessette and Blessed Mary...

A new book on the life of Pope John Paul II, written by the postulator for his cause of beatification, has earned wide publicity in the secular media-- particularly with its revelations about the...

Pope Benedict XVI opened a February 12 meeting with visiting bishops from Romania by paying tribute to the Catholics in that country who "in the period of persecution, showed dauntless attachment to...

The prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Clergy has voiced his determination to drive abusers out of the Catholic clergy. "The Church cannot accept such priests," Cardinal Claudio Hummes said...

The Chinese government has sent a sternly worded message to the White House, demanding that President Obama scrub plans for a meeting with the Dalai Lama on February 18. American honors for the...

A Chilean researcher has found heavy evidence that the country's efforts to promote healthy pregnancies have contributed to a significant drop in maternal mortality. The findings of Dr. Elard Koch...

The Catholic bishops of South Africa have released a statement sharply criticizing the country's President Jacob Zuma for his extra-marital affairs. The bishops said that Zuma's adulterous...

A Coalition of Catholic pro-life groups has asked the US bishops' conference to suspended funding for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) in light of multiple reports that the CCHD...

Two thoughtful commentators have offered their perspectives on the challenges that the Irish Catholic bishops must face in coping with the sex-abuse scandal in their country. As the Irish bishops...

The bishops of Ireland have begun meetings with Pope Benedict XVI and officials of the Roman Curia to discuss the clerical abuse scandal in their nation. The February 15-16 meeting was arranged...

The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference has publicly rebuked President Jacob Zuma for not repenting of his adultery. The president, who took office in 2009, is a non-Catholic with three...

Distancing himself from four of his brother bishops who questioned the nation’s recent presidential election, the president of the Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka has expressed confidence in the...

In a 51-8 vote, the Oregon House of Representatives has repealed a 1923 legislative ban on religious garb in the public school classroom. Prospects for passage in the state senate are...

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at a special Mass for Haitian earthquake victims at the patriarchal major basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Mass will take...

An adjunct professor at the Seattle University School of Law serves as the legal director of Planned Parenthood of Western Washington, according to the university’s web site. As Planned Parenthood’s...

Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the importance of service to the poor during a Sunday-morning visit to a shelter in Rome on February 14. Visiting a shelter run by a the Caritas relief agency at...

Pope Benedict XVI met on February 13 with the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and encouraged them in their discussion of bioethical issues that have "great importance for the culture of...

With support from the Pave the Way Foundation, the Vatican is planning to post on the internet more than 5,000 documents from the Secret Archives relating to World War II. The Pave the Way...

The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have denounced a new effort by that country's government to combat the spread of AIDS by distributing free condoms. The bishops argue that the condom-oriented...

In an interview recorded for broadcast on BBC, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has discussed his decision to end a 88-year-old policy barring the appointment of a Catholic as ambassador to...

Pope Benedict XVI delivered an address to students at Rome's pontifical seminary on Friday evening, February 12, emphasizing that "Christianity is not moralism." Reflecting on the 15th chapter of...

A joint Vatican-Israeli negotiating commission met last week to continue talks toward a juridical agreement establishing the rights of the Church in the Holy Land. The talks-- which were described...

A Czech bishop who was jailed by the Communist regime and forced to spend 15 years as a factory worker has been named by Pope Benedict XVI to become the new Archbishop of Prague. Bishop Dominik...

Catholics familiar with the long historical of debates over the translation of the Roman Missal into English may be interested to learn that another lively debate has begun over a new translation...

Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood, England has joined in three Anglican bishops in support of a blockade by peace activists at the Aldermaston base of the country's Atomic Weapons Establishment....

An Australian priest has spoken out in support of legislation that would clear the way for same-sex couples to be legally recognized as parents, and allow for surrogate parenting in Queensland. "Our...

The Chinese new year finds three Catholic bishops of the "underground" Church still in police custody, with the faithful seeking in vain for information about the whereabouts of Bishop Jia Zhiguo,...

Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker has announced that his Oregon diocese is ending its sponsorship of St. Charles Medical Center-Bend because the hospital persists in performing tubal ligations, thus...

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow is speaking out against legislation that would legalize assisted suicide for the terminally ill and physically disabled. “It is wrong in principle for someone to...

Three Muslim brothers in the eastern Pakistani village of Shadokey burned down the house of a Catholic family after Walayat Masih, the father of the family, refused to sell them the home. The Muslim...

Philippe Yaovi Ahouanye, an official at Caritas Benin, is warning that as many as 75,000 refugees may flee the west African nation of Togo for Benin in the weeks ahead because of anticipated...

In an op-ed published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Archbishop Jerome Listecki urges abuse victims to report abuse directly to civil authorities. “When I was ordained a priest in 1975, I...

“Practice safe sex” is among the 12 “basic health tips” offered by the health services office of Siena Heights University. The Michigan Catholic college also offers “sexual health” links to morally...

In Mosul, Iraq, two Christian merchants have been killed this week, one wounded, and a fourth taken hostage by kidnappers demanding a heavy ransom. The violence against the Christian minority,...

Good priests are the best natural encouragement for young men considering a life in ministry, Pope Benedict XVI writes in his message of the 47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The World Day...

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has offered its list of the top 10 albums in this history of rock music. The list begins with the Beatles' Revolver, followed by David Crosby's If I Could...

Over 1 million people have already reserved tickets to see the Shroud of Turin when it is exposed for veneration in April and May this year. The public exposition in the Turin cathedral will begin...

Pope Benedict XVI denounced the sexual abuse of children by priests, and the failure of Irish bishops to curb that abuse, during a 2-day meeting with the Irish hierarchy that concluded on February...

Three months after Pope Benedict issued the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which makes provision for Anglicans seeking corporate union with the Catholic Church, the members of an...

Msgr. Roger Bazin, the leading Canadian Catholic armed forces chaplain until his retirement in 1995, has been charged with one count of buggery, one count of indecent assault on a male, and one...

The Diocese of Phoenix announced on February 16 that Pope Benedict has laicized Msgr. Dale Fushek following an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith into allegations that...

Legislators in Virginia have voted to approve a specialty license plate with the message “Trust Women/Respect Choice.” Under the version of the bill approved by the state senate, proceeds from the...

Less than a week after the nation’s health department distributed free condoms for Valentine’s Day, a prelate in the Philippines has called upon the government to add warning labels to condoms....

A Kentucky Catholic college’s School of Social Work listed Planned Parenthood on its roster of practicum education agencies for the 2006-7 school year, according to the university’s web site....

At his regular weekly public audience on February 17-- Ash Wednesday-- Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the Lenten call to conversion. Conversion, he told the audience in the Paul VI auditorium, means...

A conservative Anglican bishop has described his contacts with the Vatican as "a little bit like Elizabethan espionage," and revealed that he feels the need to work around unsympathetic English...

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh told reporters that the Irish Catholic bishops will make a public act of repentance during Lent in response to the sex-abuse scandal. Speaking to reporters after two...

The execution-style murder of a Christian student in Mosul, Iraq-- the 3rd such killing in that city this week-- has added to an "atmosphere of panic that reigns among Christians" there, the...

A small group of Catholic scholars has written to Pope Benedict XVI urging him not to press forward with the cause for beatification of Pope Pius XII. Saying that the recent step to confer the title...

An Italian cardinal has warned politicians that they set themselves apart from the Church if they support legal recognition of same-sex marriage. "It's impossible for the Catholic faith and support...

A provincial court in West Java has ruled that the Diocese of Bandung is permitted to construct a church. Local authorities had granted a construction license but then rescinded it following...

The Mexican bishops’ conference has issued a 116-page pastoral exhortation denouncing the increasing violence in Mexican society. In the document-- entitled “So That in Christ, Our Peace, Mexico...

Appealing to the nation’s chief justice, Christians in Pakistan are protesting a judge’s decision to release the suspected murderer of a 12-year-old Catholic girl on bail. The suspect is a prominent...

A week after a priest ministering in the Diocese of La Crosse was charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee defended his decision not to act on the...

A day after the former chief Canadian Catholic armed forces chaplain was charged by military police for an alleged 1972 homosexual assault, the chancellor of a Canadian archdiocese said an...

A Massachusetts Catholic college’s “emergency contraception options and resources” list includes links to Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts and to the state government’s “access to emergency...

Five members of the Pontifical Academy for Life have joined in a rare public call for the resignation of the academy's president, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella. Their complaint traces back to the...

The Archdiocese of Washington, DC has ended its foster-care program, saying that it could not comply with a new law that requires equal treatment of same-sex couples. The decision also puts an end...

Pope Benedict XVI led a traditional Ash Wednesday service in Rome on February 17, joining in a procession from the church of St. Anselm to the basilica of Santa Sabina for Mass. In his homily the...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, back in Ireland after two days of meetings between the Irish bishops and Pope Benedict, said that those meetings were only part of a long process for the Irish...

Responding to reports that the 'underground' and 'official' branches of the Chinese Catholic Church are in conflict, an underground priest explains that he fully respects and cooperates with both...

Brazilian Christian leaders inaugurated a Brotherhood Campaign on Ash Wednesday, February 17, calling upon all their countrymen to work toward the establishment of an economic system "at the service...

Pope Benedict XVI met with the pastors of the Rome diocese on February 18, and told them that in order to be effective ministers they must "enter like Christ into human misery and take it up, going...

Moscow's Catholic archbishop laid heavy emphasis on respect for the Russian Orthodox faith in an interview with an Italian magazine, Vita e Pensiero. ??“It is obviously impossible to be Catholics in...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) announced on February 18 that it will hold a series of 22 workshops across the nation to help introduce priests and diocesan leaders to the...

The Right Reverend Paul Richardson, who retired at the end of last year as the assistant Anglican bishop of Newcastle, has been received into the Catholic Church. “I was received into full...

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone paid tribute to Blessed Pius IX during a recent Mass commemorating the tenth anniversary of his beatification. The Pontiff reigned from 1846 to...

The Church should respond to the worldwide phenomenon of migration by evangelizing migrants and by upholding the dignity of the human person, according to the final document of a recent Vatican...

Our Lady of the Annunciation of Clear Creek, a Benedictine monastery in the Diocese of Tulsa, was elevated to the dignity of an abbey on February 10. The sacred liturgy is celebrated there in...

In recent weeks, Catholic World News has documented the links between dozens of Catholic colleges and Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider. Bucking this trend, a Catholic...

Pope Benedict XVI will canonize 6 saints in a Vatican ceremony on October 17. Among the newly proclaimed saints will be Blessed Mary MacKillop, the first Australian native ever to be so honored; and...

Lebanon will soon declare a national holiday for the feast of the Annunciation, to underline the reverence that Christians and Muslims feel for the Mother of God, the AsiaNews service...

Spokesmen for groups representing Irish victims of sexual abuse said that they were feeling "depressed" and "betrayed" after a February 19 meeting with Dublin's Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The...

The existing English translation of the Roman Missal has "serious problems theologically," according to the Australian prelate who chaired the commission responsible for a new translation....

Turkey's government might welcome an appeal to the European courts by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who wants permission to re-open an Orthodox theological school. While the plans of...

An inquiry into sexual abuse of students at a German Jesuit school has expanded to include 115 possible victims. The investigation, which began in January after complaints by 7 former students, now...

The annual Lenten Retreat at the Vatican will begin on Sunday evening, February 21. Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia are expected to participate in the week-long spiritual...

Mother Clare Millea, the American nun who was chosen by the Vatican to head an apostolic visitation of American women's religious orders, spoke to John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter about...

Vital aid shipments to earthquake victims in Haiti were delayed, LifeSite News reports, because a central storage facility had already been filled by a massive shipment of condoms. ...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said on February 21 that the Church in Dublin must do penance for the clerical abuse of children documented in the Murphy report. “This year is a moment in which the...

An Irish bishop who tendered his resignation following the publication of the Murphy report said that those disappointed in the results of last week’s meeting between the Pope and the Irish...

Father Jim Denham, a priest of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, will be sentenced next month on 29 counts of child sexual abuse. Twenty-seven of the 40 men who allege abuse by the priest are...

Noting that “it has practically not rained in three years,” a bishop in north-central Kenya has lamented the effects of drought upon his diocese. “The failure of the Copenhagen Summit has deeply...

In a victory for North Carolina’s bishops, officials of the state’s Department of Public Instruction have altered a draft civics and economic curriculum that compared pro-life laws to...

A theology professor at Xavier University of Louisiana publicly advised a student to work with Planned Parenthood to promote contraception. In 2007, a student blogger wrote on his Theology 1120...

The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania faces a severe budget crisis. The alarming financial figures may offer a clue to the sudden resignation of Scranton's Bishop Joseph Martino last August. The...

The world's Catholic population is now 1.166 billion, according to the latest Vatican yearbook. The figure shows an increase of 1.7% in 2007: the last year for which full statistics are...

On the first Sunday of Lent, several Irish bishops delivered homilies and/or public statements concerning the sex-abuse scandal in their country, which had been the topic of a special meeting last...

An Italian newspaper has directly challenged a claim by the Vatican Secretariat of State that Pope Benedict XVI was kept fully briefed on Italian media charges that a senior Vatican figure had...

Pope Benedict XVI met with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Vatican on February 20. In a brief statement released after the meeting, the Vatican noted the "exemplary coexistence of the...

At his Angelus audience on February 21, the first Sunday in Lent, Pope Benedict XVI likened the season of Lent to a "long retreat," a period of spiritual combat. Commenting on the day's Gospel,...

During a February 20 meeting with Italian aviation officials, Pope Benedict XVI said that air-traffic regulations must respect "the primacy of the person." Some reporters saw the Pope's words as a...

Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has issued an encyclical letter defending ecumenism against the complaints of "unacceptably fanatical" Orthodox opponents. "The Orthodox Church does not...

Church leaders in Iraq have issued a statement demanding government action to end a campaign of violence against Christians in Mosul. A joint message from Catholic and Orthodox prelates calls...

Religious violence broke out in India's Punjab region after the publication of a cartoon that pictured Jesus drinking beer and smoking a cigarette. After Christians marched in the town of Batala to...

The government of Eritrea has released a group of 14 Christians who had been imprisoned for 2 years, but warned them that they could face execution if they engaged in any public religious activities...

Msgr. Eugene Martin Nugent, who has served for a decade as the Vatican's liaison to the Chinese Catholic Church, spoke to the AsiaNews service about his tenure and his expectations for the future of...

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, the head of the German bishops’ conference, has apologized to abuse victims in the wake of a scandal centered on a Jesuit school in Berlin, where...

Hindu extremists have burned down a second Protestant church in the northwestern Indian state of Punjab. They have also assaulted the pastors and robbed their homes. The conflict began when nuns...

Catholic relief agencies in 40 nations have received $198 million in donations from individuals and $36 million pledges from governments and other institutions to assist Haitian earthquake victims,...

Less than two weeks after the Philippine government distributed condoms for Valentine’s Day, some Philippine bishops are calling for the resignation of the nation’s health secretary, Esperanza...

Fearing retaliation against innocents, Bishop Angelito Lampon of Jolo has appealed to the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf to spare civilians after the military killed six Abu Sayyaf...

An Australian bishop is expressing concern that miners’ 12-hour shifts are negatively affecting family life. “Because of those hours the miners have to work, the family life is affected, now...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of sympathy to the people of Madeira, promising his prayers for the victims of severe flooding on the Portuguese island. The Pope's message was conveyed in a...

Children who are conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) face elevated risks of health problems that include birth defects, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure, medical studies show. As the...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of support to the Catholic bishops of Brazil as they begin their Fraternity Campaign, an annual Lenten tradition. This year's campaign-- which is being...

Pro-life activists in Washington, DC, have reacted strongly against a new health-care reform proposal unveiled by President Barack Obama, noting that the legislation would provide government support...

As calm returns to the northwestern Indian state of Punjab following the destruction of two Protestant churches, a spokesman for the nation’s bishops said that they will lodge a protest about the...

In an interview published in the February 24 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, the new president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace denounced “toxic elements of foreign cultures such as...

Speaking before a crowd of 12,000 at Brigham Young University, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago delivered an address on “Catholics and Latter-day Saints: Partners in the Defense of Religious...

Bishop Margot Kaessmann, the leader of Germany’s Lutherans, has resigned after she had her driving license revoked for driving while intoxicated. Pulled over after running a red light on February...

Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Joseph Bambera, a priest of the Diocese of Scranton, as the successor of Bishop Joseph Martino. Bishop Martino, who resigned in August at the age of 63, had won...

A former maintenace worker at the cathedral in Saginaw, Michigan, is alleging that he was sexually assaulted last July by a deacon. The deacon, who in turn alleged that the maintenance worker had...

The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life has rejected a demand for his resignation. Questioned about a letter signed by five members of the Pontifical Academy, who said that he is not fit...

Pope Benedict XVI did not hold his regular weekly public audience on Wednesday, February 24. The Holy Father has cancelled his audiences this week as he and the leaders of the Roman Curia make their...

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has sent birthday greetings to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, welcoming the...

The Catholic Church in Germany is under mounting public pressure as new revelations of sexual abuse continue. Government officials are pressing for a full accounting from the hierarchy. Der Spiegel...

A federal judge in the state of Washington has found the Spokane diocese and its attorneys in contempt of court for threatening to sue a bankruptcy trustee. The Spokane diocese had agreed to a...

A Belgian Catholic priest has stirred up a scandal by presiding at a homosexual "marriage" ceremony in a Catholic church at Liege. Father Germain Dufour, a Capuchin priest who has been a Green Party...

Religion columnist Terry Mattingly notes that in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II wrote that Catholics are obliged to recognize "universal and unchanging moral norms." Mattingly...

A decision by the Israeli government to claim two religious shrines as national heritage sites has drawn an angry response from the Palestinian leadership. The two shrines, Rachel's Tomb and the...

The United States Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging congressional leaders to "commit themselves to enacting genuine health care reform that will protect the life, dignity,...

A mob of Muslims in Karachi vandalized two Protestant churches, beat up Christians in the streets, and attacked Christian shops and homes on February 21 following a dispute between a Muslim merchant...

Days after violence erupted in Punjab following the publication of a textbook with a blasphemous image of Jesus, the bishops of India welcome actions against the publisher but said they would not...

Maryland’s attorney general, Douglas Gansler, has announced that the state will recognize homosexual marriages that have taken place in the five states where the practice is legal. “I am...

Breaking with the tradition of offering commentary on election-related moral issues without endorsing candidates, two Philippine bishops have endorsed the candidacy of John Carlos de los Reyes of...

The apostolic nuncio in Haiti has issued a report on the state of the nation’s seminaries following last month’s earthquakes. Although both seminaries were destroyed, with only a few books...

Hundreds of Christian families are leaving Mosul, Iraq each day to escape a concerted campaign of violence and intimidation. Syrian Catholic Archbishop Basil Casmoussa presided on February 25 at a...

The Spanish parliament has approved new legislation that establishes a woman's "right" to abortion and eliminates all restrictions on abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. The new law...

The Italian Catholic bishops' conference has called for major changes in the country's southern region, to "get past the inadequacies of today's political class." Citing widespread corruption,...

Archbishop Oscar Cruz has suggested that an effective ban on prostitution would be more effective than condom giveaways in curbing the spread of AIDS. The retired Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan...

The Diocese of Essonne, France, has been shaken by the desecration of a parish church, and the reluctance of law-enforcement officials to recognize the crime as an anti-Catholic assault. Criminals...

An Australian judge described priestly celibacy as "cruel, cruel," as he sentenced a Catholic priest to 18 months in prison for soliciting minors for sexual activity. Judge Allan Hughes said that...

An Irish parish priest in Galway is drawing large congregations for daily Mass during Lent, by promising to complete the service within 15 minutes. Father Michael Kenny omits the homily and relies...

President Barack Obama brushed aside pro-life concerns about health care reform legislation during a bipartisan summit devoted to the topic. “The Stupak-Pitts amendment-- which reflects the will...

As Sudan prepares to hold its first democratic elections since 1986, an archbishop has called upon the nation’s Catholics to repent for their sins, register to vote, and foster the integrity of the...

Amid increasing calls for the “integration” of Catholic and Protestant schools in Northern Ireland, Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, has announced he will oppose...

Responding to recent critiques of the revised English translation of the Roman Missal, Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, has defended...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has told a New York television station that pro-abortion Catholic politicians will not receive honors at events like the Al Smith dinner. “Everybody's...

FBI and DEA agents who raided a Philadelphia abortionist’s office this week discovered floors stained with blood and a room full of bottled fetus remains. “He left the door open,” recounted...

The Diocese of Graz, Austria, has disclosed that it rejected a man's demand to be paid for his silence about sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, seeing the demand as tantamount to blackmail. Bishop...

The trial of Bishop Raymond Lahey on child-pornography charges has been postponed until April of next year. The former head of the Antigonish, Nova Scotia, diocese, who is currently free on bail and...

Spain's King Juan Carlos will not incur any ecclesiastical penalty if he signs a new law allowing unrestricted abortion in the early stages of pregnancy, a spokesman for the Spanish episcopal...

The latest meeting of a Catholic-Muslim commission concentrated on means of preventing violence undertaken in the name of religion. The joint commission-- with members from the Vatican and from...

Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff, Wales, has welcomed new guidelines for prosecution in cases of assisted suicide, saying that the rules provide greater protection for the vulnerable. The...

The Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has announced that it will withdraw support from the nationwide Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) until it receives clarification about reports that...