Catholic World News

The Legionaries of Christ have issued a brief statement in response to Pope Benedict’s decision to appoint an apostolic delegate to supervise the community. “The Legion of Christ today, May 1,...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is welcoming the Senate Democrats’ framework for immigration reform but has announced its opposition to the framework’s treatment of...

The bishops of India have drafted guidelines on disciplining priests who have abused children but will not make the guidelines public until the Vatican approves them, The Times of India...

Cardinal Jaime Ortega of Havana led 12 wives and mothers of political prisoners in a small street protest in Cuba’s capital on May 2. The march by the “Ladies in White” took place after the cardinal...

A retired Episcopal Church bishop who became a Catholic layman in 2007 has returned to the Episcopal Church. The Right Rev. Daniel Herzog, the former Episcopal Bishop of Albany, was a Catholic...

Noted pro-life thinker Dr. Hadley Arkes, the Edward N. Ney Professor in American Institutions at Amherst College, has announced that he was received into the Church on April 24. “The Church has...

As he venerated the Shroud of Turin on Sunday, May 3, Pope Benedict XVI said that the cloth is a reminder of Holy Saturday, when the body of Jesus lay in the tomb, in "the no-man's-land between...

Three bishops of the Church of England expressed an interest in joining the Catholic Church during talks last week with Vatican officials, according to the London Sunday Telegraph. The Vatican...

A car bomb exploded outside the University of Mosul, Iraq, killing one person-- the Christian owner of a nearby shop-- and wounding 100. The bomb was evidently intended to kill students traveling to...

Archbishop John Myers of Newark has asked the administration of Seton Hall University to reconsider scheduling a course on same-sex marriage. The archbishop, who chairs the board of the Catholic...

Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has said that he opposes calls for another "People Power" uprising, saying that calls for a renewal of the movement that ousted Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 are...

Pope Benedict XVI praised the late Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer for his deep faith and his lifetime of service to the Church, as he delivered the eulogy at the German cardinal's funeral in the...

A new study has found that about half of the women who procure abortions later suffer from depression and/or drug abuse. The study by scientists from the University of Manitoba covered over...

Conrad Black writes that the journalists who are criticizing Pope Benedict XVI for his handling of the sex-abuse issue fail to understand either the nature of the Catholic Church or the Pope's...

In its newly released annual report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is urging the State Department to designate 13 nations as “countries of particular concern” because...

Three years after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to “work cooperatively … to expedite review of the personnel files of the accused offenders” as part of a $660-million settlement, the accused...

Human excrement was placed at the entrance of a parish church in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, to protest Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle’s visit. Posters calling for the removal of the archbishop...

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has called upon the faithful to have more children in order to repopulate their vast nation. “What's the good of having economy, if our nation is sick?”...

A priest of the Diocese of Joliet faces the prospect of up to 30 years in prison amid charges he embezzled $300,000 from his parish. Father John Regan, 46, served as vocation director of the...

“Appalled at the now-daily assaults by the liberal media against the Church,” a former United States senator has written a letter to The New York Times defending recent actions taken by American...

The October meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which will be devoted to the Middle East, will be a "precious opportunity" to strengthen Christian identity in a troubled region, the Vatican announced...

Abortion providers in Oklahoma have won a delay in the implementation of a new law requiring an ultrasound examination before abortions. Attorney General Drew Edmondson accepted a court order...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of sympathy to the Christians of Mosul, and condemned the latest targeted bombing attack there. The Pope's message-- sent in a telegram to the Syrian Catholic...

Thirty new members of the Swiss Guard will be sworn in on May 6, in a colorful annual ceremony in the San Damaso courtyard of the Vatican. The swearing-in ceremony for new recruits is held each...

Among American women who obtain abortions, the proportion living under the federal poverty level has jumped from 27% in 2000 to 42% in 2008, according to a new study. The study by the Guttmacher...

Pope Benedict XVI sent birthday greetings to Elio Toaff, the longtime leader of Rome's Jewish congregation, on May 3. The retired rabbi was celebrating his 95th birthday. In his message-- which was...

Cardinal Luigi Poggi, the former Vatican archivist and librarian, died on May 4 at the age of 92. Following a diplomatic career in which he had served as apostolic nuncio in Peru, Poland, and Italy,...

Chai Ling, the only woman leader of the1989 Tiannamen Square protests, was baptized on April 4. She said that her conversion was prompted by a loss of confidence in political solutions and anguish...

A new poll conducted by CBS News and The New York Times has found that 77% of Catholics who attend Mass weekly say that “the Vatican’s handling of recent child sex abuse reports” has had no effect...

The patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church has issued a call for “prayer and pardon” following the murder of Christian students in Mosul. “Today our eyes are filled with tears. We are stunned...

Five thousand priests and seminarians, led by Cardinal Claudio Hummes and Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, gathered at the Shrine of Jasna Góra in Czestochowa on April 30 and May 1 and...

With a general strike gripping the country for a 3rd consecutive day, Bishop Anthony Sharma has called upon all parishes, religious communities, and Catholic schools to recite the Rosary daily “for...

The American Jewish Committee presented its Isaiah Interreligious Award to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, at the conclusion of its annual...

Legislation that would have lifted the statute of limitations in abuse cases in Connecticut has been withdrawn in the state House of Representatives. “Connecticut already has the longest...

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia will soon be named prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, according to Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale. The report by Tornielli--...

Pope Benedict XVI endorsed efforts at nuclear disarmament, in remarks he made during his weekly public audience on May 5. The Pontiff also said that healthy family life is the best hope of society....

Priests should make the administration of the sacraments their top pastoral priority, Pope Benedict XVI told his public audience on Wednesday, May 5. Continuing his weekly talks on the priesthood...

The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences discussed the causes and effects of the global financial collapse during a recent meeting. The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences met in Rome last...

While serving as Archbishop of Portland (1986-95) and Archbishop of San Francisco (1995-2005), Cardinal William Levada, the prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, permitted at...

The fighting that has claimed 5.4 million lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to the western part of the nation, causing 120,000 to flee for the adjacent nation of the Republic...

A recently appointed Illinois bishop has clarified remarks made in a 2007 homily in which he said that clerical abuse lawsuits were the work of the devil. “While in the context of a homily I did...

Writing on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany and CRS President Ken Hackett have praised Senators Max...

In a wide-ranging talk that paid tribute to the writings of Msgr. Ronald Knox, Cardinal Francis George, C. S. Lewis, Scott Hahn, and others, Cardinal William Levada called for a “new apologetics” to...

A majority of American Catholics approve of the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, despite misgivings about the Vatican's handling of the sex-abuse crisis, according to a new Zogby poll. The Zogby...

A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow has charged that European leaders allow unrestricted criticism of religious beliefs, but do not give believers the same right to voice...

Pope Benedict XVI met with the Emir of Kuwait and the president of the Swiss Confederation in separate private audiences on May 6. In his talk with Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah the...

Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki met with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon in New York as the UN opened a conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The archbishop showed the...

A retired canon-law professor in Germany is testing that country's "church tax," asking the Vatican to rule that the system of taxation is not in keeping with Church law. Harmut Zapp says that the...

As Oklahoma legislators ponder legislation on immigration, Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa has issued a statement calling for secure borders and immigration reform. “It is the clear teaching of...

Ten days after his ordination to the episcopate, Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton expressed concern about a speaker at the Jesuit-run University of Scranton. “Bishop Bambera has engaged in a...

The failure of law enforcement efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration manifests the need for comprehensive immigration reform, according to Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of...

The Greek Orthodox Church will stand by the “battered Greek people” during the current economic crisis, said Archbishop Hieronymos II of Athens, the Church’s primate, during a meeting with the...

In a decision that manifests the changing dynamics of Catholic journalism, the Aquinas Institute of Theology is awarding an honorary degree to Rocco Palmo, 27, who started the popular Whispers in...

Four years after his exoneration by a grand jury, Father James Selvaraj, a priest accused of abuse, is seeking to be reinistated to public ministry in the Diocese of Trenton. “Because of his...

The controversial sale of Boston's Catholic health-care system includes a provision that would alow the secular buyer to opt out of a requirement to maintain the system's Catholic identity, by...

The German bishop who resigned in April after admitting to physical abuse of children is now under investigation for sexual abuse as well. Bishop Walter Mixa, who has offered to resign from his...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 7 with President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia. Their conversation focus on Church-state relations in the former Soviet republic-- including particularly the...

Cardinal Walter Kasper said that Vatican talks with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) can produce an accord only if the traditionalist group accepts Vatican II. "Dialogue with them is not easy,"...

Victims' rights advocates in Wisconsin have charged that lobbyists for the Catholic Church threatened that a state senator would be denied Communion if he supported a bill to extend the statute of...

Pope Benedict XVI held a private audience on May 7 with 30 new members of the Swiss Guard, who had been sworn at during a Vatican ceremony the previous day. Speaking to the new members and their...

The Pontifical Council for Culture has announced plans for a 2-day festival of Russian culture and spirituality. The initiative is co-sponsored by the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow. Archbishop...

An Italian appeals court has turned down a prosecutor's effort to revive murder charges in the case of Roberto Calvi, the banker who died in London under mysterious circumstances in 1982....

Princeton politics professor Robert George has received the Honorific Medal for the Defense of Human Rights from the government of Poland. George, a prominent Catholic and pro-life leader, was...

The Boston archdiocese is expecting a decision from the Apostolic Signatura, the Vatican's top appeals court, on a bid to stop the closing of 10 parishes. Parishioners have been holding vigils at...

Vietnamese police disrupted a funeral and arrested at least 59 people in the Da Nang diocese, prompting a condemnation of their action by Bishop Josseph Chau Ngoc Tri. The police took action to stop...

John Allen looks at the background of Pope Benedict's coming trip to Fatima, Portugal. He notes that the five foreign trips the Pope has scheduled for this year-- to Malta, Portugal, Cyprus, Great...

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna has told a group of journalists that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former Vatican Secretary of State, had "deeply wronged" the victims of sexual abuse by...

The Church of England has inched closer to the ordination of women bishops with the release of draft legislation on May 8 that would make it “lawful for the General Synod to make provision by Canon...

The president of the Peruvian episcopal conference has condemned Arizona’s immigration law as “contrary to dignity and human rights.” “For the Catholic Church in the United States, the presence...

As Philippine voters go to the polls on May 10, a bishop has ordered all priests to expose the Blessed Sacrament so that the faithful may pray for a presidential election untainted by corruption....

Church officials in Canada say they are unaware of the whereabouts of Bishop James Wingle, who resigned as Bishop of St. Catharines (Ontario) on April 7 at the age of 63. “He’s out of the...

In a diocesan magazine column, Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine recounts that a social worker threatened to take away the family’s benefit cards during the Great Depression if his mother-- an...

Pope Benedict XVI has completed the 2nd volume of his work, Jesus of Nazareth, the Vatican press office has announced. The completed manuscript of the new book, which focuses on the Passion and...

Pope Benedict XVI will leave Rome on May 11 for a 4-day trip to Portugal, highlighted by a visit to Fatima-- unless the clouds of volcanic ash in the atmosphere over Europe force a change in his...

"The fall in the number of priests must not be considered as an inevitable process," Pope Benedict XVI told a group of Belgian bishops during a meeting on May 8. The Pope urged the bishops, who were...

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg, Germany. Bishop Mixa offered his resignation in April, after admitting that he had been guilty of physical...

Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk as Archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland. He will replace Archbishop Henryk Muszynski, who is retiring at the age of 77. Historically...

At his midday audience on Sunday, May 9, Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that the month of May, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, "always coincides with Easter time, the time of the Hallelujah." Moreover,...

Dozens of Catholic activists stood outside Hanoi's cathedral of St. Joseph on May 6, expressing their concern at the installation of Bishop Peter Nguyen Van Nhon as coadjutor to Archbishop Joseph...

Authorities in Pennsylvania have arrested a man on charges that he pocketed more than $100,000 that he had received from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for counseling after he had reported being...

At the funeral of Cardinal Luigi Poggi, the former Vatican archivist, Pope Benedict XVI recalled that the Italian prelate had been a key figure in opening relations with the countries of the Soviet...

Vatican-watcher John Allen writes that the appointment of Cardinal George Pell as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops would mark an important shift in the direction of the Roman Curia. While...

In what is being hailed as a milestone address on the future of the Church in Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said that “I have never since becoming Archbishop of Dublin felt so disheartened and...

As Russians recalled the 65th anniversary of victory over the Nazis in World War II, the deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations blasted Communist dictator...

The bishops of El Salvador are urging the nation’s president and legislators not to ratify the pro-abortion Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The...

Citing the example of Pope John Paul II Academy-- an independent school that offers a classical college-preparatory curriculum and is faithful to the Magisterium-- the new executive director of the...

A man has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of El Paso alleging that Father Manuel Perez Maramba abused him while he ministered in the United States. Father Maramba, a Benedictine of Our Lady of...

A priest of the Diocese of Boise who had been temporarily removed from ministry in 2005 because of sexual misconduct with an adult has again been removed from ministry by Bishop Michael Driscoll....

The greatest danger to the Church comes not from external enemies or critics, but "is born from the sin within the Church," Pope Benedict XVI said on May 11. In a conversation with reporters who...

Writing for The Catholic Thing, the noted natural-law theorist (and newly baptized Catholic) Hadley Arkes makes the point that anyone who argues for the rights of immigrants must base his case on...

The Vatican has announced plans for a fiber-optic network that will provide for broadband data, voice, and video communications. The Vatican city-state has signed a contract with Telecom Italia...

"I come as a pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima," Pope Benedict XVI announced as he arrived in Portugal on May 11. Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, president of the Republic of Portugal, and...

Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet will resign, just days after the installation of a coadjutor archbishop for the Hanoi archdiocese, the AsiaNews service reports. The archbishop's resignation...

One of the five bishops who led an apostolic visitation of the Legion of Christ has said that the order must eliminate the strong personal influence of its founder, the late Father Marcial...

In a subtle but powerful message to the people of Portugal, Pope Benedict XVI made a distinction between the failures of Catholic leadership and the enduring power of Christ's message. "In the...

A Belgian commission investigating clerical abuse has received 270 allegations since April 23, when Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Bruges resigned after it came to light that he abused a boy in the...

Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has expressed regret for recent remarks critical of “people power” activism. “I want to apologize to you all for having given the wrong impression that the...

An Ontario diocese and a gay altar server have consented to a confidentiality agreement following a May 11 mediation session at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. “Hopefully it is an acceptable...

Father Joseph Fessio, the publisher of Ignatius Press, has written a column defending and clarifying remarks made by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn during a meeting with journalists. The cardinal...

In an article that appeared in the May 12 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, Tania Mann summarized the research of Hebrew University Professor Avinoam Danin into the botanical images on the Shroud of...

Pope Benedict XVI has named Father Eduardo Nevares, the vice-rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum, as Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix. Father Nevares served as co-vocations director of the...

In an address to Portuguese cultural leaders on May 12, Pope Benedict XVI said that " the Church considers that her most important mission in today’s culture is to keep alive the search for truth,...

The Catholic bishops of Kenya have issued a call for rejection of a proposed new constitution for the African nation, citing the document's failure to protect the dignity of huma life. "A...

The Birmingham Oratory has forcefully rejected the claim by author John Cornwell that the cause for beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman has been rushed to support the cause of theologically...

The director of the Vatican press office has denied a report, published in an Italian newspaper, the Pope Benedict XVI asked for a statement of support from the dean of the College of...

Bishop Bernard Fellay, the head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), says that it is "impossible to say" what will be the outcome of current talks with the Vatican. In an...

A controversial Austrian bishop has called for an end to the discipline of priestly celibacy and for reconsideration of ordination for women. In an interview with Die Presse, Bishop Paul Iby of...

"Cardinal Sodano has to go," writes Joseph Bottum, the editor of First Things. He explains: The dean of the College of Cardinals, he has been found too often on the edges of scandal. Never quite...

During his pilgrimage to Fatima, Pope Benedict XVI has laid heavy emphasis on the general content of the message that the Virgin Mary delivered during her appearances there, notes John Allen of the...

Arriving at Fatima on Wednesday, May 12, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated all of the world's priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Addressing himself to the Virgin, and speaking on behalf of all...

Marquette University rescinded an offer to appoint a lesbian as dean after Milwaukee's Archbishop Jerome Listecki expressed concern about the move, the Journal-Sentinel reports. Informed of the...

The Syrian Catholic archbishop of Mosul has called for a United Nations investigation into the sources of anti-Christian violence in Iraq. “An international inquiry should be done by the United...

At a May 12 interfaith press conference denouncing new Arizona immigration legislation, a Chicago auxiliary bishop said that he was recently a victim of racial profiling. Bishop Gustavo...

In a May 13 diocesan newspaper column devoted to illegal immigration, Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker (Oregon) urged Catholics to consider the human dignity of illegal immigrants. “I do not think the...

Six years after a half dozen photographs of naked boys and male teenagers were found on his parish computer, Father Darrell Mitchell will resume ministry in the Diocese of Yakima (Washington)....

Dr. Jodi O’Brien, whose appointment as arts and sciences dean at Marquette University was recently rescinded-- reportedly after a call from Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee-- has devoted an...

An estimated 500,000 people attended a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Fatima shrine on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. "I too have come as a pilgrim to Fatima," the Pope...

Dear Pilgrims, “Their descendants shall be renowned among the nations […], they are a people whom the Lord has blessed” (Is 61:9). So the first reading of this Eucharist began, and its words are...

The resignation of Hanoi's Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet-- which was officially announced by the Vatican on May 13-- is being used by state-controlled media in Vietnam as an opportunity to...

The Archdiocese of Boston has distanced itself from the decision by a parochial school to deny admission to the child of a lesbian couple. St. Paul's elementary school in Hingham, Massachusetts, had...

The Diocese of Burlington has agreed to pay over $20 million to settle 29 lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Vermont’s sole diocese will pay $17.65 million to settle 26 pending...

Speaking at an ecumenical event in Munich’s Catholic cathedral, Bishop Margot Käßmann, who led Germany’s Lutherans until her February arrest for drunk driving, paid tribute to the birth control...

Accompanied by other Arizona religious leaders, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, met with Sen. John McCain on May 13 in an attempt...

Venezuelan authorities announced on May 12 that they have charged three men in the brutal April 29 murder of a 68-year-old American missionary priest. Ordained in 1967, Father Stephen Wood was...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published answers to questions posed by journalists and others about the Code and Canon Law and the sexual abuse of minors. Among the questions...

A hitchhiker who murdered one man and shot two others in the Cincinnati area in 1983 was executed in a prison in Ohio on May 13. Present at the execution of Michael Beuke was Bishop R. Daniel Conlon...

Attacks on the dignity of human life and on marriage are "some of today's most insidious and dangerous threats to the common good," Pope Benedict XVI said during a Mass at Fatima on May 13....

"In Fatima I prayed for the whole world," Pope Benedict XVI said on May 14 as he ended a 4-day visit to Portugal and boarded his return flight for Rome. The Pontiff began the day on Friday by...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin is facing public pressure to identify the "strong forces" that he said were resisting efforts to disclose the full truth about sexual abuse. Bishop William...

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australian, has sidestepped a question about reports that he will soon be named prefect of the Vatican's powerful Congregation for Bishops. But Cardinal Pell did...

The German government has dropped an investigation into sex-abuse charges against Bishop Walter Mixa, whose resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict earlier this week. Bishop Mixa had stepped...

The Church in the Middle East needs the heroic witness of saints, the retired Latin-rite Patriarch of Jerusalem told a conference in Lebanon. Archbishop Michel Sabbah, looking forward to the...

A Catholic church was severely damaged by vandals in the Diocese of Karwar on May 12, in the latest episode of violence against the Christian minority in India's Karnataka state. The damage was...

Bishop Peter Moran of Aberdeen, Scotland, has vetoed plans for a celebration of Mass in the extraordinary form in the cathedral of St. Magnus in Kirkwall. The bishop told the traditionalist group...

The Rainbow Sash Movement, a homosexual activist group, has announced plans to confront Chicago's Cardinal Francis George during Mass on Pentecost Sunday at the city's cathedral. The group is...

The Vatican has signed an agreement with Vodafone to provide mobile phone service for the Vatican city-state. The 3-year agreement will cover service for about 2,000...

The call of Our Lady of Fatima is still heard clearly by the Catholic faithful today, said the director of the Vatican press office in a commentary on the Pope's trip to the Fatima shrine....

Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, who this week resigned his post as head of the Hanoi archdiocese, has denied reports that the Vatican asked him to step down in order to ease tensions with the...

The government of Israel has announced a ban on fishing on the Sea of Galilee, to address severe depopulation of the fishing stock. The annual catch of St. Peter's Fish, the most famous product of...

The Boston archdiocese has announced that a child who was denied admission to a parochial school because her parents are lesbians will be placed in another Catholic school. The Catholic Schools...

In late 2009, an abortion took place at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix after a hospital ethics committee deemed the abortion necessary to save the life of the mother. Sister...

A victim of Father James Fletcher, who was convicted of abuse and died in jail, has accused the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference of turning a blind eye to the abuse as it was...

The president of the Bishops' Conference of Thailand is warning that the unrest that is gripping the nation may degenerate into a civil war unless the two sides begin serious negotiations. “We...

With the approval both of the Holy See and of the Chinese government, Father Joseph Cai Bingrui, 44, was ordained Bishop of Xiamen on May 8. The southeastern Chinese city has a population of 2.5...

The New York Times has examined Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s handling of the clerical abuse scandal during his years as Archbishop of Milwaukee and later as Archbishop of New York. While he posted the...

Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, chairman of the Committee for Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Diane Knight, chair of the USCCB’s...

Over 150,000 people crammed into St. Peter's Square on Sunday, May 16, to show support for Pope Benedict XVI at his midday audience. The enormous crowd gathered in response to a call from the...

The Vatican is asking an American court to dismiss an effort by sex-abuse victims to bring suit against the Pope and the Holy See, saying that the Vatican is not responsible for administrative...

Italian authorities expelled two Moroccan students in April, saying that they were threats to national security. Mohammed Hial and Errahmouni Ahmed, students at the University of Perguia, were...

As Vatican-watchers await the appointment of a papal delegate to oversee the Legion of Christ, the leaders of the religious order have issued a statement claiming that few Legionaries were aware of...

Christians "should be glad amidst all the tribulations," Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to a German ecumenical event. Although "over recent months we have repeatedly had to absorb news that...

In his first address after taking the reins of the British government, Prime Minister David Cameron referred to the "common good." Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster saw the statement as an...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 17 with President Juan Evo Morales of Bolivia. Their conversation, the Vatican reported, focused on the importance of policies "to protect the rights of the weakest" in...

In an annual message to the world's Buddhists, the Vatican has emphasized the prospects for cooperation in work to protect the environment. Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, the president of the...

Christian women have borne the brunt of anti-Christian violence in India's Kandhamal region. A new study records the level of violence-- evident in beatings, kidnappings, sexual assaults, and verbal...

The Vatican has rejected a final canonical appeal from a group in the Boston archdiocese that had fought the closing of 10 parishes. The group, the Council of Parishes, has indicated that it may now...

Columnist Mark Steyn examines a series of cases in which British Christians have encountered legal trouble for expressing viewpoints that reflect orthodox Christian faith. The same restrictions are...

“Committing himself to the Archdiocese of Armagh”-- in the words of an archdiocesan statement-- Cardinal Seán Brady announced that “in the years that remain to me as Archbishop of Armagh, I am fully...

Amid mounting reports of government corruption, the bishops of Peru are “invite[ing] the public to practice ethics and to recover ancestral values that should govern the fate of all institutions of...

In an interview that appeared in the May 17-18 edition L’Osservatore Romano, Dr. Renato Buzzonetti reflected on his years as Pope John Paul II’s personal physician. “The physical pain, in the last...

Pope Benedict XVI has named an American Jesuit as the rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Father James McCann, 61, is the current director of the US bishops’ Office to Aid the...

A county judge in Pennsylvania ruled on May 17 that the Diocese of Scranton must pay former teachers from five Catholic schools over $1 million in severance pay and accumulated sick leave in accord...

A prominent doctor at a Phoenix Catholic hospital is publicily lauding the nun who helped approve an abortion that took place there in late 2009. The hospital's ethics committee, on which the nun--...

A lawsuit brought by sex-abuse victims is forcing a US federal court to examine a complex theological issue: the nature and scope of a Roman Pontiff's authority over individual diocesan...

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna has repeated his argument that the Church should re-examine the question of priestly celibacy. Responding to questions about a public statement by outgoing...

Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe, Ireland. Bishop Walsh had already reached retirement age, having celebrated his 75th birthday in January, and he...

The Pastoral Care of Migrants Committee of the Guatemalan Bishops' Conference issued a statement on May 14 blasting Arizona’s recently enacted immigration law. Calling the legislation “the most...

Deacon Scott [Alcuin] Reid, whose work The Organic Development of the Liturgy includes a preface by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had his faculties revoked in 1991 by the Archdiocese of Melbourne,...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has reaffirmed that “strong forces” in the Church are opposed to the emergence of the truth about clerical sexual abuse but has strongly denied a press report...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is a member of a coalition that is supporting the nomination of Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court. “The President has...

Addressing national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies on May 17, Cardinal Ivan Dias said that “the world needs priests and missionaries in 3D, people who maintain doctrine, discipline,...

The Catholic Physicians Guild of Phoenix has issued a statement in support of Bishop Thomas Olmsted, who condemned an abortion that took place at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix....

Pope Benedict XVI used his weekly public audience on May 19 to reflect on his visit last week to Portugal, where he said he had become "a pilgrim among pilgrims" at the Fatima shrine. Recalling...

Portugese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has announced that he will sign legislation giving legal recognition to same-sex marriage, which the nation's parliament passed after heated debate earlier...

The Catholic bishops of Belgium have issued a public statement asking pardon for their failure to curb sexual abuse. After completing their ad limina visit to Rome, the Belgian bishops reported...

The leadership of the Knights of Columbus (K of C) has forbidden local councils to take any action against members of the Catholic fraternal organization who support legalized abortion or same-sex...

A prominent American Jesuit journalist has characterized Pope Benedict XVI's statements on abortion and same-sex marriage as "bizarre." Father James Martin of the weekly magazine America said...

Vietnamese government officials have escalated their campaign against Catholic activists, arresting 6 lay Catholics in Da Nang for "disrupting public order." The arrests came after a funeral...

British prosecutors have dropped charges against Evangelical "street preacher" who was arrested in April for making public statements against homosexuality. The preacher, Dale McAlpine, had been...

Greg Erlandson and Matthew Bunson, authors of a new book from Our Sunday Visitor press defending Pope Benedict's handling of the sex-abuse crisis, offer a glimpse of their argument in an interview...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has withdrawn its membership in the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of more than 200 organizations. “In light of...

The chairmen of the migration committees of the US and Mexican bishops’ conferences have issued a joint statement on President Felipe Calderón’s visit to the United States. “We urge both leaders...

Referring to a recent controversy over whether to admit a child raised by a lesbian couple to a Catholic school, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston praised everyone involved for having the good of...

A Spanish-born missionary bishop has welcomed the arrival of troops to protect the civilian population from the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group that has been acting with impunity in...

Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Joliet has removed Father Jerry Simonelli from his pastorate because he engaged in homosexual activity. “It was consenting behavior, but a priest takes a vow of...

A 47-year-old mechanical engineer has filed suit against retired Bishops Joseph Maguire and Thomas Dupre of Springfield (Massachusetts), alleging that they failed to provide adequate supervision to...

A Chicago lesbian who was automatically excommunicated last month following her “ordination” will not be permitted to have a Catholic burial, according to a Chicago archdiocesan official. The...

An Australian legislator has questioned whether the government should respect the confessional seal in cases involving sexual abuse. Senate Nick Xenophon called for "a debate about the sanctity of...

In a message to prison inmates in Malta, Pope Benedict XVI wrote of the "inner freedom" that Christians possess regardless of their circumstances. The Pope's message, made public by the Vatican on...

Pope Benedict XVI welcomed the first ambassador from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the Holy See on May 20, saying that the Vatican hopes for religious freedom especially for guest workers...

As he met on May 20 with a new ambassador from Mongolia to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI voiced his appreciation for "the constant support of the government in ensuring religious liberty." The...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 20 with Prime Minister Feleti Vaka'uta Sevele of Tonga. Their brief conversation, the Vatican reported, centered on "the process of institutional reform in Tonga, on...

Catholic and Anglican churches in Ballarat, Australia, are moving to make their buildings available to asylum-seekers, in response to a severe shortage of space in detention centers for illegal...

Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister of L'Espresso observes three different approaches to the sex-abuse scandal. While Pope Benedict looks to eliminate the spiritual corruption that has been exposed,...

Cuba's President Raul Castro has held a face-to-face meeting with Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino of Havana and Archbishop Dionisio Garcia, the president of the Cuban bishops' conference, to discuss...

A leading spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church has said that Pope Benedict XVI should meet with the new Russian Patriarch Kirill I. Metropolitan Hilarion Afleyev of Volokolamsk, who is in...

Three Protestant churches and a pastor’s home were demolished on May 15 and 19 in Kano state in northern Nigeria after a local Shari’a court consented to their destruction. “It is unacceptable...

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged members of Congress on May 20 to support...

Citing Pope Benedict-- who wrote in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate that “more economically developed nations should do all they can to allocate larger portions of their gross domestic...

A woman who alleges abuse by the late Father Thomas Shea is seeking the release of 661 pages of documents from the Diocese of Norwich, including a 2005 letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger...

Zambia’s leading prelate, Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu of Lusaka, has granted a lengthy and candid interview on the challenges faced by the south-central African nation, including its endemic...

An Oregon man has filed a $2.8-million suit against the Archdiocese of Portland, alleging he was raped at in the 1970s at the age of eight or nine by his parish priest. The allegation is the first...

Speaking on May 21 to members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that lay Catholics are responsible for political activity that promotes a Christian moral...

Top Church officials have reacted cautiously to the announcement that a scientist has synthesized a living cell, using man-made DNA. The announcement by researcher J. Craig Venter has prompted...

Pope Benedict XVI underlined the mutual interests of the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, and the need for ecumenical cooperation in Europe, in a brief address on May 20 after a concert of...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 21 with President Leonel Antonio Fernandez Reyna of the Dominican Republic, for a conversation that centered on the current challeges facing that country and especially...

The Louisiana state senate has voted by a lopsided 33-4 margin in favor of legislation that would require an ultrasound examination for any women seeking an...

In arguing that sex-abuse victims should not be allowed to list the Pope as a defendant in an American lawsuit, the Vatican has entered into complicated legal and theological debates. John Allen...

The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have indicated their willingness to work with newly elected President Benigno Aquino, but drawn a firm line against cooperation with the new government...

Having completed his term as president of the Catholic University of America, Msgr. David O'Connell met with Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, the prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, to...

In a remarkably sympathetic report, The Australian tells readers that the new English translation of the Catholic liturgy, which recently won formal approval from the Holy See, brings a "reverential...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 21 with leaders of the Pontifical Missionary Works, and told them that their work is particular important at a time when the world is witnessing 'the spread of a...

A campaign to promote ethics instruction in schools reflects a growing hostility toward formal religion, remarked Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia. Cardinal Pell pointed out that a...

Recalling that “it was blasphemy accusations that triggered anti-Christian mob violence in Gojra and Korian in summer 2009, leaving eight dead and at least 100 houses destroyed,” the European...

A bishop in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has joined human rights groups in calling upon President Barack Obama to intervene to halt attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA),...

In an address entitled “The Middle Eastern Synod in its Geopolitical and Pastoral Context,” Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali of Jerusalem analyzed the situation of Christians in each region of the...

Criticizing the Catholic Health Association for supporting “profoundly flawed” health care legislation, and responding to criticisms-- such as those lodged by Rep. Bart Stupak-- over the US bishops’...

A Philippine bishop has denied a Catholic burial to Governor Rafael Nantes of Quezon, who died in a helicopter crash on May 17. The governor was a Freemason, as well as a born-again...

The bishops of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala-- the nation’s Catholic stronghold since its evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle-- is developing a campaign against cohabitation following...

Pope Benedict XVI reminded the faithful that "there is no Church without Pentecost," adding that "there is no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary," as he led celebrations for the feast day. The...

"The common good is the goal that gives meaning to progress and development, which otherwise would be limited only to the production of material goods." That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI at...

The Obama administration has weighed in strongly against efforts by abuse victims to bring suit against the Vatican. In a brief filed with the US Supreme Court, the Justice Department asked for a...

At the close of his Regina Coeli audience on Sunday, May 23, Pope Benedict XVI asked the faithful to remember a special Day of Prayer for the Church in China, to be observed on Monday, May 24....

On Saturday, May 22, Pope Benedict XVI met with Prime Minister Boiko Borissov of Bulgaria and President Trajko Veljanoski of Macedonia in separate private audiences. Both were in Rome for...

Pope Benedict XVI met on May 24 with President Denis Sassou N'guesso of the Republic of Congo. Their talks centered on that country's preparations for celebrating its 50th year of independence, and...

Looking forward to Pope Benedict's visit to Cyprus, an Associated Press story profiles the small Maronite Catholic community on the predominantly northern side of the island. (The AP story might...

Diplomatic representatives of Israel and the Holy See met last week to continue discussions toward the completion of a juridical-economic pact, to fulfill the terms of the "fundamental agreement"...

The bishops of Malta have issued a reminder that "couples who live together without being married should not receive Holy Communion." The bishops note that this insistence is not intended as a...

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra, Australia, told a Radio National audience that everything possible should be done to stop sexual abuse within the Church. In the past, he said, Church leaders...

Patriarch Bartolomew I of Constantinople has told a Turkish government commission on minority rights that the country's Christian minority should receive compensation for the efforts by Turkish...

The latest German government statistics show the country's birth rate dropping to its lowest level since the end of World War II. The number of births dropped 3.6% in 2009, and the fertility rate...

Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister of L'Espresso sees a strong convergence of opinion between the Vatican and the Moscow patriarchate on the need for a "new evangelization" in Europe. More generally,...

The rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University has reported that he received a visit from a representative of the state security agency-- the former KGB-- who ordered him to sign a statement...

Stating that “Catholics can become fanatical about one form of the Body of Christ in the bread of the Eucharist as the REAL presence of Christ,” Father Michael Kelly, the Jesuit CEO of the Asian...

Over 2.1 million pilgrims, including Pope Benedict XVI, venerated the Shroud of Turin when it was on display in Turin’s cathedral between April 10 and May 23. “I had the clear perception that...

Responding to recent insinuations in the British press that Cardinal John Henry Newman was gay and was an intellectual forefather of today’s dissenters from Catholic teaching, Father Ian Ker, the...

Less than two weeks after Diocese of Burlington agreed to pay over $20 million to settle 29 lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of minors by priests, the diocese has agreed to sell its historic...

Father Rubens de Almeida Goncalves, 35, died on May 21 from a gunshot wound to the head. “Father Rubens died in the full exercise of his priestly ministry, which has always been marked by...

A 57-year-old father of five whose marriage had been annulled was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Belleville by Bishop Edward Braxton on May 22. A onetime lay employee of the diocesan...

A group of faculty members at Jesuit-run Marquette University have joined in a public statement decrying the school's decision to back away from the appointment of a lesbian professor as dean....

The Pontifical Council for Culture has joined with an Italian biotech firm, NeoStem, in a joint effort to promote public recognition of the medical potential for use of adult stem cells. The...

A three-judge court in Kenya has ruled against official acceptance of the Islamic system of kadhi court. The kadhi courts, which are intended for use only by Muslims, apply the principles of shari'a...

The Moroccan government has announced that since March, it has deported over 100 foreign Christians for proselytizing Muslims. “These incidents (expulsions) were prompted by the activism of some...

The head of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus has rebuked Orthodox prelates, including Bishop Athanasios of Limassol, who view Pope Benedict as a heretic and thus oppose his June 4-6 visit to the island...

Bishop Mariano Crociata, the secretary general of the Italian bishops’ conference, announced on May 25 that 100 clerical abuse allegations have led to canonical procedures, including trials, in the...

A 73-year-old Italian priest who has long been a critic of Catholic teaching that homosexual inclinations are objectively disordered was arrested on May 24 on charges of abusing a teenage boy....

Father Marcin Michal Strachanowski, a 44-year-old Krakow priest who ministers in the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, has been arrested on charges of handcuffing a 16-year-old boy to a bed and...

Bishop Thomas Dupré, who resigned from his position in 2004 and was later indicted on charges of raping two boys when he was a parish priest, is now living in a Washington, DC retirement home for...

All authority in the Church comes from Christ, Pope Benedict XVI told his public audience on May 26. Therefore, holding any office "subjects the person to the mystery of Christ, making him His...

The upper house of the Oklahoma state legislature has voted to override the veto of Governor Brad Henry and pass a new law requiring abortionists to providing information about their procedures, and...

Government officials in West Java ordered the closing of a popular Christian church, drawing a protest from the Indonesian Human Rights Commission. Although the Protestant church had obtained all...

Vandals attacked a parish school in Maywood, California, writing "666" on the wall, desecrating a crucifix, and driving a knife into an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Police said that the incident...

The Cannes Film Festival has awarded its Grand Prix to a film about the French Cistercian monks who were killed by Islamic zealots in Algeria in 1996. Of Gods and Men, directed by Xavier Beauvois,...

The pontifical council Cor Unum has sent a donation from Pope Benedict XVI to the victims of flooding in Poland. The gift-- conveyed to Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the president of the Polish...

Writing about the Kentucky case in which sex-abuse victims seek to list the Vatican as a defendant, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver argues that the plaintiffs' argument-- that the Vatican...

Cardinal Walter Kasper, who coordinates the Vatican outreach to the world's Jews, has promised that the secret archives covering the pontificate of Pius XII will be open to scholars within 6 years....

Pope Benedict XVI plans to visit Ukraine in 2012. Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzyck of Lviv has announced that the Pope accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine, "and a concrete date is now being...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging members of Congress to oppose the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), whose passage has been a priority for homosexual advocacy groups...

A Canadian bishop has announced that he will not formally report an incident of alleged abuse to authorities unless the alleged victim consents. Bishop David Douglas Crosby, OMI, of Corner Brook and...

A leading Anglican bishop and New Testament scholar has criticized as a “waste of time” the bureaucratic paperwork surrounding government-mandated child-protection procedures. In a May 25 talk,...

In an interview with Chicago Public Radio, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry recounted the discrimination suffered by Father Augustus Tolton (1854-97), the first African-American diocesan priest in the...

Four thousand Catholics-- including seven cardinals, 59 bishops, and 411 priests-- welcomed Archbishop José Gomez as coadjutor archbishop of the United States’ largest diocese at a Mass of Reception...

In a May 26 blog posting, Samuel Gregg, director of research for the Acton Institute, criticized the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for downplaying Catholic teaching on subsidiarity....

Society today is facing a "cultural and spiritual crisis, as serious as the economic crisis," Pope Benedict XVI told the Italian bishops in a May 27 address. "It would be illusory to counter one,...

There were 37 Catholic priests, religious, seminarians, and lay catechists killed on pastoral assignments in 2009: the largest number in the past 10 years. The Fides news service has provided an...

More than 1,000 British girls under the age of 15 obtained an abortion last year, official statistics show. Another 21,000 abortions were procured by girls under 18. The Department of Health...

Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey has renewed his complaint that the Obama administration is illegally funding a campaign in favor of a new proposed constitution for Kenya. The Obama...

A German investigation has yielded 205 complaints of abuse in the country's Jesuit-run schools. Ursula Raue, who was commissioned by the country's Jesuit leaders to conduct an independent probe,...

An Islamic scholar in India has said that the issuance of dozens of fatwas by militant Muslim clerics-- including many aimed at women who do not wear the prescribed veils, reflects an outdated...

An international coalition of pro-life activists and Catholic scholars has joined in a statement of support for Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, who has drawn heavy press criticism for his...

Patrick Fagan of the Family Research Council-- whose "Mapping America" project has provided a steady stream of revealing statistical insights into the connections between religious faith and social...

Cardinal Marc Ouellet expressed astonishment at the reaction to his recent statement that abortion is a moral crime that cannot be justified even in the case of rape. In response, a newspaper...

In a May 25 address to his fellow Italian bishops, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian episcopal conference, lamented his nation’s “slow demographic suicide.” “Over 50% of families...

Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, criticized President Barack Obama’s decision to send up to 1,200 members...

The 2010 Oberammergau Passion Play, which began on May 15 and will run through October 3, emphasizes that “Jesus was against hierarchy and against institutions,” according to one of the two actors...

As the Dietrich von Hildebrand Legacy Project holds a conference in Rome devoted to “The Christian Personalism of Dietrich von Hildebrand: Exploring His Philosophy of Love,” L’Osservatore Romano on...

For the first time, a woman has been “ordained” in Italy as a priest of the Old Catholic Church, a schism that arose in the nineteenth century because it viewed the First Vatican Council’s...

The Anti-Defamation League on May 26 honored Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Pope John Paul II’s personal secretary, with its Cardinal Bea Interfaith Award. “Cardinal Dziwisz is a valued...

The Confederation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul opened a general assembly in Salamanca, Spain today, to elect its 15th president. The confederation represents 51,000 conferences of the...

A proper approach to immigration should balance "the rights and duties of foreigners and those of the host communities," Pope Benedict XVI said at a private audience with members of the Pontifical...

The Catholic bishops of Acapulco have called for cooperation between Mexican and US authorities to restore order to the border area, curbing the drug trade and associated violence and ensuring...

In the course of an essay analyzing the latest discussions among leading prelates about clerical celibacy, journalist Sandro Magister of L'Espresso gives a harsh assessment of Vienna's Cardinal...

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter interviews Father Borys Gudziak, the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University, who recently lodged a public protest against what he saw as an effort...

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, has proposed penalties against Anglican provinces that break from the worldwide consensus on the proper approach to homosexuality. Citing earlier...

In an exclusive interview with Catholic News Agency, Archbishop José Gomez, the newly installed coadjutor of Los Angeles, speaks at some length about the challenges of pastoral ministry toward the...

In a rare nod toward public opinion, the Vatican Secret Archives has offered tours to journalists and selected guests, giving them a realistic picture of the operation as an antidote to the...

Cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Italy may have been covered up by bishops there, as they were in other countries, the president of the Italian bishops' conference has conceded. Asked by...

Police in Ireland are asking for tighter security and heightened vigilance in Catholic parishes after a series of arson attacks on church buildings. The attacks-- in several different locations...

The Vatican basilica will host a 2-hour service of Eucharistic adoration “in reparation for abuses committed by priests and for the healing of this wound within the Church" on May 29. Msgr....

Without any public announcement, Catholic Charities USA has dropped out of a political coalition that is actively supporting the nomination of Elena Kagan for a Supreme court seat. Catholic...

In remarks to a new ambassador from Benin to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI decried the use of political power for private ends. "The search for personal advantage to the detriment of the...

In a manifest example of media bias, a May 30 Associated Press headline screamed, “Future pope refused defrocking of convicted priest”-- even though Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then prefect of the...

A front-page story in the May 31 edition of The New York Times examined how vocations directors and seminaries are screening prospective seminarians in light of the Congregation for Catholic...

In a May 30 newspaper column, Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell denounced the clerical abuse of children, bishops who covered up the abuse, and those in the media who have attacked Pope...

An Iowa bishop has reminded Catholics in his diocese that “those who attempt to confer Holy Orders on women are excommunicated, as are the women who attempt to receive Holy Orders. This includes the...

A new study of America’s 17,000 permanent deacons has found that 62% are 60 or older, while only 18% receive financial compensation for their ministry. The study, conducted by the Center for Applied...

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, paid tribute to the Cardinal Celso Costantini upon...

The Vatican has expressed intense concern about the Israeli raid on the "Freedom Flotilla" headed for the Gaza Strip on May 31. Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office,...

The Vatican has announced the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for June 2010. The Pope's general is: "That every national and trans-national institution may strive to guarantee respect for...

The Vatican has announced plans for an apostolic visitation of the Church in Ireland in response to the sex-abuse crisis there. The investigation will begin in the fall of 2010. In his March 19...

Egypt's highest court has ruled that the Coptic Orthodox Church must allow divorce and remarriage. The Supreme Administrative Court, siding with a lower court decision, rejected an appeal by...

An Irish-born archbishop serving in Nigeria has resigned after being accused of sexual abuse. Archbishop Richard Burke stepped down from his post at the head of the Benin City, Nigeria...

At his Angelus audience on Trinity Sunday-- May 30-- Pope Benedict XVI said that the feast "in a certain sense recapitulates the revelation of God in the Paschal mysteries." Although the...

The Boston archdiocese is facing heavy tax payments for property in parishes that have been formally closed-- including two parishes in which residents have occupied the buildings in an effort to...

The Vatican's chief prosecutor in sex-abuse cases said that the process of removing abusive priests from the clergy is a form of "divine surgery" allowing for purification of the Church....

On Saturday, May 29, Pope Benedict XVI met with participants in a pilgrimage honoring Father Matteo Ricci, the great Jesuit missionary to China. The Pope commented that Father Ricci was "a unique...

An Israeli archeologist has concluded that the "real" Mount Sinai described in the Old Testament is located in Israel, in the Negev desert, rather than on Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Emmanuel Anati...

US President Barack Obama has issued a proclamation that June 2010 will be "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month." The proclamation expresses "our commitment to the struggle for equal...

A Catholic bishop in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has welcomed American support for efforts to curb the violence of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda and neighboring countries....

Pope Benedict XVI will be "heading into a potential diplomatic firestorm" when he visits Cyprus this coming weekend, according to an AP preview of the trip. Noting the longstanding tension...