Catholic World News

Shahbaz Bhatti, a lay Catholic who served as Pakistan’s federal minister for religious minorities, was assassinated on March 2 while traveling to work. He was 42. The gunman who ambushed Bhatti's...

Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott of Melbourne, a former Anglican who now serves as the Holy See’s delegate for the Australian ordinariate, is urging Anglo-Catholics to “lay down [their] weapons” and...

The Holy See’s delegation defended marriage and family life and condemned discrimination against women during a February 28 meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council’s Commission on the Status...

A Quebec rights tribunal has ordered Mayor Jean Tremblay of Saguenay, a city of 145,000, to ceasing praying at city council meetings and to remove a crucifix and image of the Sacred Heart from...

Praising the forthcoming revised translation of the Roman Missal, an Australian bishop has offered a strong critique of the translation in use for the last four decades. The current translation,...

Father Gerald Murray, Bernard Nathanson’s parish priest, preached the homily at the funeral Mass for the prominent abortionist who became a deeply influential pro-life advocate. “I am not...

The Vatican has released excerpts from the forthcoming 2nd volume of Pope Benedict’s book, Jesus of Nazareth, including an extended meditation on how all sinners share the responsibility for the...

Continuing his weekly series of talks on doctors of the Church, Pope Benedict XVI devoted his public audience of March 2 to the influence of St. Francis de Sales (1567- 1622). Early in his life,...

The German Catholic bishops have announced a plan to offer €5,000 ($6,900) payments to victims of clerical abuse. The bishops’ proposal would also provide for therapy for victims, and extra...

Several Christians were killed in an attack by Muslims on a town outside the city of Jos, in central Nigeria, where religious conflicts have flared frequently in recent months. Residents of the...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 2 with Josette Sheeran, the executive director of the UN’s World Food Program (WFP). Sheeran was in Rome after a visit to Libya and Tripoli. After the meeting, she...

The Maronite Catholic Synod of Bishops will meet on March 9 to elect a new Patriarch on Antioch. The outgoing Patriarch Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, who has retired at the age of 91, called the...

Bishop Christopher Coyne, a former priest of the Boston archdiocese who was ordained on March 2 as an auxiliary in Indianapolis, Indiana, told an interviewer that he would not withhold the Eucharist...

Dissenting Catholic theologians in Germany have issued a public statement calling for radical change in the Church. George Weigel sees that statement as a classic example of chutzpa, since the...

Thousands of Coptic Orthodox Egyptians joined in a protest demonstration after the governor of the Minya province ordered the destruction of building owned by a Coptic church. The building, a...

Pakistan’s bishops have condemned the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Catholic who served as the nation’s federal minister for religious minorities. The gunman who ambushed Bhatti's car and shot...

In an interview with The Portal-- a new publication devoted to the ordinariate of Anglican communities received into the Catholic Church-- an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the...

Mary Sperry, an official of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has revealed several changes that will appear in the forthcoming New American Bible Revised Edition...

Lauding a book by the late Father John Harvey, two Philippine bishops urged Catholics who struggle with same-sex attractions to seek spiritual assistance and support. Father Harvey founded Courage,...

In an address delivered on March 1 at Georgetown University, Archbishop Charles Chaput reflected on the heritage of religious freedom in the United States, noting that “we’re not acting like we...

In an interview with a local newspaper, Bishop Matthew Clark of Rochester appeared to take issue with a 2005 Vatican document that reaffirmed that men with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” should...

The head of Caritas International, the international consortium of Catholic relief agencies, has expressed concern that some member organizations will become “disillusioned” because of Vatican...

Two top Vatican officials have endorsed an Italian author’s book that argues “liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics.” Cardinal Raymond Burke, the head of the...

The Indian government has categorically rejected a federal commission's recommendation that terminally ill patients should be allowed to choose death in order to end their suffering. The...

Speaking on March 3 to a group of bishops from the Philippines who were concluding their ad limina visits, Pope Benedict XVI said that the personal piety which remains strong in that country “needs...

The Vatican is plan revisions in the section of the Code of Canon Law that details penalties for various violations, in hopes that bishops will be more inclined to use those sanctions. The...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has written to Pope Benedict XVI, thanking the Pontiff for teaching that the Jewish people do not bear collective guilt for the death of Jesus. "I...

Catholic leaders in Taiwan are appealing to the government to extend a stay on the death penalty, urging a permanent ban on capital punishment. The government of Taiwan has not carried out the...

A joint Catholic-Jewish dialogue committee ended a week-long meeting in Paris with an expression of concern for the peoples of Northern Africa and the Middle East, “where millions of human beings...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 3 with Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, for a 30-minute discussion that touched on Chilean policies and on the situation in Latin America generally....

Two very influential Catholic publications have published sharply contrasting views on the future of Lebanon and the role of the Hezbollah movement, notes Sandro Magister of L'Espresso. Civilta...

Catholics and other Christians in Pakistan are holding three days of public mourning in memory of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Catholic cabinet minister assassinated for his opposition to the nation’s...

Lamenting the problems that afflict Russian society-- “corruption, disrespect for the law, alcoholism, drug addiction, criminality, the crisis of the family”-- the head of the Russian Orthodox...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered strong criticism of President Barack Obama’s recent decision not to defend the Defense of...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which typically addresses federal and international political concerns, has asked the governor of Illinois to sign legislation ending the...

The bishops of nine southeastern European nations are meeting in Cyprus to discuss their outreach to youth in view of the upcoming World Youth Day this August in Madrid. “Today, being a young...

The board of trustees of the University of Dallas has unanimously approved a new undergraduate major in pastoral ministry. Some of the program’s faculty members, according to Patrick Fagan, have...

Some 16,500 US youth, accompanied by at least 60 bishops, will attend World Youth Day in Madrid this August, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The largest contingents...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 4 with Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. Their brief conversation, the Vatican reported, covered a wide range of topics including the international economic...

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI will lead the traditional Ash Wednesday procession from the church of St. Anselm on the Aventine Hill to the basilica of Santa Sabina. Vatican...

The “new evangelization” will be the focus of attention at the 13th ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, meeting in Rome in October 2012. Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, the secretary general...

An Italian priest has been sentenced to a 15-year prison term, in a sex-abuse case that prompted national attention because a bishop admitted that he had failed to inform police of accusations...

New York's City Council has approved a measure requiring pregnancy-help centers to advertise that they do not provide abortions. The legislation was sponsored by abortion supporters, who charge...

Jeffrey Anderson, the Minnesota lawyer who has won million of dollars in sex-abuse payments from the Catholic Church, has begun running television advertisements in the Wisconsin area, recruiting...

The former editor of the Boston Globe told journalism students about the beginnings of an investigative report into sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese. The work of the Globe's "Spotlight Team"...

Francis Beckwith, the Baylor University philosophy professor who recently returned to the Catholic Church after years as a prominent Evangelical leader, explains how his reflections on apostolic...

Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan is calling upon the Church to declare Shahbaz Bhatti a martyr. Bhatti, a Catholic cabinet minister, was assassinated for his opposition to the nation’s blasphemy...

Supporters of incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo have burned down a mosque in the southern city of Yopougon. Gbagbo, a Catholic whose base of support is in the nation’s south, lost the...

Speaking on the eve of Rep. Peter King‘s congressional hearings on radical Islam, Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough praised the members of a mosque for their “unequivocal stand...

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, chairman of the US bishops’ committee on ecumenical and interreligious affairs, and Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, chairman of the bishops’ ad hoc...

The presidents of the bishops’ conferences of southeastern Europe have issued a message to youth. “We are aware of your problems,” the bishops said at the conclusion of their March 3-6 meeting in...

Caritas Internationalis, the consortium of Catholic relief and development agencies, has issued an appeal on behalf of migrant workers who are attempting to flee the strife-torn nation but are...

A mob of an estimated 4,000 Muslims attacked a Coptic Orthodox parish in a town south of Cairo on Friday night, March 4, setting fire to the Coptic church and to several homes. Four Coptic...

Reacting to a grand jury's report that 37 priests accused of sexual abuse are still in active ministry, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has engaged a former prosecutor to re-evaluate each of those...

The federal supreme court of India on Monday a plea to approve 'mercy killing' in a highly publicized case, but allowed for "passive euthanasia" by the removal of the patient's life-support system....

Just a day after the burial of Shahbaz Bhatti, the cabinet minister who was killed for his criticism of Pakistan's blasphemy law, another man has been slain after he was acquitted of violating that...

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Ireland in 2012, according to media reports in that country. The Vatican has made no announcement about a papal trip to Ireland, but Irish government officials have...

A Catholic environmentalist initiative is urging the faithful to observe Lent by recycling, using cloth rather than plastic bags, and replacing incandescent light bulbs. "Lent is the perfect time...

A prominent Seattle priest who had argued forcefully against a new English-language translation of the Roman Missal has now promised to work for its successful implementation. Father Michael...

"The Lord has called each of us; each is called by name,” Pope Benedict XVI said during a March 4 visit to Rome’s major seminary. The Pope offered a meditation on the theme of vocation as he made...

At his Angelus audience on Sunday, March 6, Pope Benedict XVI said that trust in God affords the faithful “the solid foundation upon which to build our lives.” Commenting on the day’s Gospel...

At the conclusion of his midday audience on Sunday, March 6, Pope Benedict XVI said that he was "following with great concern" the violence in Libya, "where recent clashes have left many dead and...

An Italian lawyer specializing in banking, Francesco De Pasquale, has been appointed director of the Vatican’s newly created Financial Information Authority (FIA). Cardinal Attilio Nicora, the...

Political liberals and population-control enthusiasts often charge that the Catholic Church (or, more specifically, the Pope) endangers the lives of Africans by opposing condom distribution...

An Italian television network plans to broadcast excerpts from homilies and meditations by Pope Benedict XVI each Saturday. The Pope’s words will be accompanied by masterpieces of Catholic artworks...

Priests must be “true prophets,” the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy writes in a letter to Catholic clerics timed for the beginning of Lent. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza exhorts all priests to...

The United States Supreme Court has let stand an appellate court decision that ordered the University of Wisconsin not to discriminate against a Catholic organization in funding student activities....

Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, chairman of the committee on domestic justice and human development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), is calling upon members of...

Some victims of clerical abuse are calling upon Church authorities to create special housing for laicized priests or to monitor them as civil authorities monitor convicted sex...

An increasing number of teenagers and young adults are choosing to live chastely, according to a new study from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. The report, which covered the years...

Father Gary Thomas, the California exorcist whose story forms the basis of a recently released movie, discussed his experiences in an interview with a CNN reporter. “A lot of folks dabble in the...

Jewish organizations are denouncing a proposed ballot initiative that would ban circumcision in San Francisco. “This is one of the most fundamental practices to our tradition of over 3,000...

Parents, alumni, and administration of a predominantly African-American Catholic high school in New Orleans are angry that Archbishop Gregory Aymond and the superior general of the Josephite order...

Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf has met with Coptic Christians whose church was burned down by a Muslim mob, and promised to restore security and help rebuild the church. Although the...

Pope Benedict XVI will set a new precedent with a television appearance on Good Friday, April 22. The Holy Father will answer three questions, chosen from among public submissions, in a program...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo met with the state’s Catholic bishops on Tuesday, March 8—just a day after the governor’s office had said that Cuomo would be too busy to speak with bishops’...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has placed 21 priests on administrative leave, in response to a grand jury report sharply criticizing the Church’s response to sex-abuse charges. The grand jury...

An outspoken Australian bishop has said that he might resign his post because of dissatisfaction with Church teaching. Bishop Pat Power, an auxiliary in the Canberra archdiocese, said that he is...

Responding to criticism from the outgoing head of Caritas International, the secretary of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum has said that the Vatican wants new leadership in the international...

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications is planning an online site that will incorporate reports from all the major Vatican news agencies: L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Radio, and the Fides...

Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, Libya, is pleading for “no further spilling of blood.” The bishop warned against any outside interference in Libya’s current...

Government leaders in Australian’s island state of Tasmania have announced plans to legalize “death with dignity,” allowing for the opening of euthanasia clinics. Tasmanian premier Lara Giddings...

Matthew Hanley contrasts the attitudes toward health care advanced by St. John of God (whose feast day is today, March 8) with those shown by the Catholic Health Association in its support for...

A Vatican document following up on the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which called for broader use of the traditional Latin liturgy, will be released within weeks, according to Italy’s leading...

A US-born bishop is urging Zambians not to elect former President Frederick Chiluba to a third term-- prompting an angry reaction from the Chiluba’s political party, which remains in power. ...

The bishops of New York State will not deny Holy Communion to politicians who support abortion and same-sex marriage, according to Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany. “Some bishops have done that...

Some 600 members of the Church of England are preparing to be received into the Catholic Church this Easter as members of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. “We couldn't...

Over $2 million, stored in plastic bags, has been stolen from the Cistercian Monastery of Santa Lucia in Zaragoza, Spain, according to European press reports. “The sisters said that it was money...

The Archdiocese of Denver’s liturgy office has made 100,000 black wristbands available for the Lenten season. The wristbands have the word “sacrificium” stamped on them. “The psychology is that...

For the faithful, Lent should be a time of sincere repentance and genuine conversion, Pope Benedict XVI said as he led the Church of Rome in Ash Wednesday observances. The Holy Father made the...

After the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that 21 priests had been placed on administrative leave, a prosecutor praised the move, while groups representing sex-abuse victims said the move was...

At this weekly public audience on March 9—Ash Wednesday—Pope Benedict XVI reminded the faithful that Christianity is not a matter of observing rules, but an encounter with the living...

At least 6 people were killed and dozens injured when violence erupted during a demonstration by Coptic Christians in Cairo. The army intervened after Muslims attacked Copts who were...

Pope Benedict XVI endorsed a Lenten environmental campaign backed by the Brazilian Catholic bishops—with the important proviso that “the first ecology to be defended is ‘human ecology.’” In a...

The official spokesman for the Mexico City archdiocese plans to appeal a ruling that he was guilty of "proselytism" when he said that Catholics should not support political candidates who favor...

The bishops of the Maronite Catholic Church have entered a Synod meeting in Bkerke, Lebanon, to select the 77th Patriarch of Antioch. The Synod meeting began March 9 with the bishops joining in a...

A young Spanish girl has been pronounced free of a brain cancer after being treated with stem cells developed from her own umbilical cord. Diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2009, the girl,...

New attacks on Christians have been reported in the troubled Indian state of Orissa. With several new incidents arising since the beginning of 2011, Christians in Orissa fear that the violence...

The Catholic Action League of Massachusetts has criticized Boston College Law School for sponsoring a tribute to the late Father Robert Drinan, the Jesuit priest who served as a Congressman and...

The dissident theologian Hans Küng has released a new book denouncing the doctrines of the Catholic Church. The German-language book, entitled Can the Church Still Be Saved?, continues Küng’s...

General Wojcciech Jaruzelski, the head of Poland’s communist government in the 1980s, will not attend the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1, he has announced. Jaruzelski issued his...

George Weigel detects danger signals in statements from the Russian Orthodox hierarchy defending the actions of the Russian government-- even in the Stalin era. Patriarch Kirill has congratulated...

For the second time in less than a month, the Congregation for the Clergy has overturned a US diocese’s decision to close parish churches. The Congregation found that the Diocese of Allentown...

The United State Supreme Court has let stand an appellate court decision declaring that the national motto (“In God We Trust”) is constitutional. Atheist activist Michael Newdow argued that the...

Chinese media are reporting that Communist officials may gradually relax the nation’s one-child policy, which has been in effect for over three decades. Urban couples with one daughter may be...

Citing Pope Benedict’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate, the Holy See’s chief representative at the United Nations urged members of a UN committee not to confuse economic growth with the higher goal...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is praising Gov. Pat Quinn for signing a bill abolishing the use of capital punishment in Illinois. Sixteen states have now banned the use of...

Sister Marie Thornton, former vice president of finance at Iona College in New York, has pled guilty to embezzling $850,000 from the college between 1999 and 2009. “She abused her access to cook...

Six potential presidential candidates have discussed their observance-- or non-observance-- of the season of Lent. “I have a regular routine for Lent of attending Mass at least three times a...

Humility, fidelity, and constant prayer are necessary ingredients in the lives of Catholic priests, Pope Benedict XVI said at a March 10 meeting with the pastors of the Rome diocese. Following a...

The Vatican today announced the official publication of a new book by Pope Benedict XVI, the 2nd volume of the Pope’s planned 3-part work on Jesus of Nazareth. Holy Week: From the Entrance into...

After the killing of Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian woman convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan fears that she could be the next target of Muslim extremists. Asia Bibi, who faces the death sentence...

The apostolic visitation into the life of women’s religious orders in the US has concluded a new phase, wrapping up on-site visits to religious orders. Mother Mary Clare Millea, who is conducting...

The head of Cairo’s Al Azhar University has condemned the attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, saying that the violence is a “distortion of Islam.” Sheikh Ahmad al Tayyib urged Muslims to help...

The Pontifical Council for Culture gathered ambassadors from more than 20 Asian nations for a March 10 conference on the relationship between economic welfare and human happiness. After the...

Pedro Dutour tells two troubling stories of courage and compassion in Mexico. The stories are troubling because they do not have happy endings, and in one case they involve acts of charity toward...

Robert Vischer asks why, in today’s America, only political conservatives are inclined to defend the individual’s conscience rights. That’s an interesting question, which he follows up with an...

A New York Congressman opened hearings on the radicalization of the American Muslim community on March 10. “I have repeatedly said the overwhelming majority of Muslim-Americans are outstanding...

Five Iranian Pentecostal Christians have been sentenced to a year in prison for "crimes against the Islamic order," according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. 282 Christians have been arrested...

Bishop John Tong of Hong Kong has announced that 3,400 catechumens will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. The Church in Hong Kong has seen a rising numbers of conversions. The number of adult...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ office of government relations has issued an “action alert” urging Catholics to contact their representatives on behalf of the Defense of Marriage...

Bishop Andrew Hao Jinli, who endured imprisonment and constant police surveillance for his loyalty to the papacy, has died at the age of 95. Secretly ordained in 1984, he led the northeastern...

The world’s largest stations of the cross have been placed along the Via della Conciliazione in Rome. Sculpted from 22,000 pounds of bronze, the stations include 49 statues and 11 crosses....

An Australian newspaper has advanced the preposterous theory that the Vatican might be violated anti-discrimination laws with a survey seeking information about possible candidates for episcopal...

Among the 21 Philadelphia priests suspended this week because of sex-abuse charges, only 7 had their cases brought to the attention of an independent review board, the head of that panel has...

The leader of the Melkite Catholic Church has recommended that the faithful offer up their Lenten fasting for the cause of peace in the Middle East. Patriarch Gregory III Laham said that through...

A comatose immigrant woman died after she was discharged from Georgetown University Hospital and removed from her feeding tubes—against the wishes of her family—in a case that has raised concerns...

At a March 10 press conference introducing the 2nd volume of Pope Benedict’s book Jesus of Nazareth, Cardinal Marc Ouellet said that he believed the Pope’s work could lead to “the dawn of a new era...

In his new book—the 2nd volume of his work Jesus of Nazareth—Pope Benedict XVI writes that Catholics should not seek the incorporation of the Jewish people into the Church. “Israel is in the...

Cardinal Kurt Koch, the new president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, travels to Moscow this weekend for his first meeting with leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church. Cardinal...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 11 with members of a Belgian charitable group, thanking them for a donation that he said would be used to help relief efforts in Haiti. The Holy Father told the...

“The Church in Japan will respond to the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami that struck northern Japan with prayer and solidarity,” said Bishop Marcellinus Daiji Tani of Saitama, responding the...

A priest of the Archdiocese of Washington has told a Pennsylvania newspaper that the decision over whether to establish a personal ordinariate of former Anglicans in the United States is now in the...

Speaking on behalf of Nigeria’s bishops, Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, the nation’s capital, called for a “free and fair election in Nigeria, carried out in an atmosphere of tranquility and...

Gina Maisto Smith-- the former sex-crimes prosecutor retained by Cardinal Justin Rigali to investigate cases of alleged clerical sexual abuse cited in a recent grand jury report-- was “an absolute...

The Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the USA met recently to discuss homosexuality and moral discernment. “One of the primary tasks of this round of dialogue is to examine...

Laura Seay, a Morehouse College professor whose expertise is in African politics, has warned against Western ‘badovacy’ which, despite its good intentions, can do more harm than good in...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a promise a prayer to the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, and a financial contribution to relief efforts after the disaster. In a March 12 telegram to...

A visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Ireland next year would probably include a trip to Northern Ireland, British officials believe. A Foreign Office memo, reflecting on the Pope's trip to Great...

The Vatican has launched pages on Facebook and YouTube to help provide information about the beatification of Pope John Paul II. The Facebook page provides information about the beatification,...

Chinese police are curbing access to a village in the Hebei province to deter Catholics from attending the funeral for a beloved bishop of the “underground” Church. Bishop Andrew Hao Jinli, who...

Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia begin their annual Lenten Retreat on Sunday evening, March 13. During the week-long spiritual exercises there will be no papal audiences, and...

More than 200 Anglicans are preparing to enter the Catholic Church through the new ordinariate of Our Lady of Walshingham. The Westminster archdiocese reports that 62 Anglicans will enter the...

A Spanish priest remains in active ministry 3 years after he admitted financing abortions, the LifeSite News service reports. Father Manel Pousa has paid for abortions, blessed same-sex unions,...

Christians on Indonesia’s province of West Java report that they have been barred by local officials from entering their own church, despite a supreme court order allowing them to use the building....

Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, Australia, has shot back at a government official who said that the prelate’s views on climate change are “simply not scientific.” In answer to the charges leveled...

The prime minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, said that a small Islamic sect is responsible for a series of arson attacks on Christian churches. Meles said that the Kawarja sect “and other...

Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has denounced the peaceful use of nuclear power, saying that it is a “provocation” that violates the laws of nature. Reacting to fears that...

Meeting on March 12 with representatives of an association of Italian mayors, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized two pillars of Catholic social teaching: solidarity and subsidiarity. In his remarks to...

During Lent—which is “a spiritual itinerary of preparation for Easter”—Christians should be keenly aware of the costs of sin, Pope Benedict XVI told his midday audience on Sunday, March...

The bishops of Japan will hold an extraordinary meeting on March 16 following the Sendai earthquake and tsunami that left thousands dead. “The situation is very difficult,” said Bishop Martin...

Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien has denounced UK foreign policy as “anti-Christian” after the government announced it would double foreign aid to Pakistan. “To increase aid to the Pakistan...

Some 50 college-age students stormed a chapel at Spain’s leading public university on March 10. “A group of 50 young people, the majority girls, entered disrespectfully the chapel of the...

The thousands of Catholics who have fled Iraq for Syria in the years following the 2003 US attack have revitalized the life of the Church, according to the Maronite archbishop of Damascus. “They...

Despite intense opposition from local political leaders, the Church in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh has been blessed with strong growth over the past three decades. In 1978, it...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) are urging Catholics to contact members of Congress on March 15 “to stop careless cuts to poverty-focused...

Bishop Bechara Rai has been elected the new Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church. The new Maronite leader--who had been Bishop of Jbeil, Lebanon—was elected by the Maronite Synod of Bishops...

A new Irish government, combining forces of the Fine Gael and Labor parties, could create new challenges for Catholic political leadership. The government is planning a constitutional convention...

Life-sized bronze statues depicting the Stations of the cross have been installed along the Via della Conciliazione: the road leading from the Tiber to St. Peter’s Square. The 49 statues have...

World Youth Day organizers report that 300,000 young people have already registered for this year’s international celebration in Madrid. Organizers expect about 1.5 million participants at the...

Muslims in France have asked for the use of empty Catholic churches, saying that this would "prevent Muslims from having to pray in the streets." Father Samir Khalil Samir, a Jesuit expert on Islam,...

Planned Parenthood representatives are lobbying against passage of legislation in Illinois that would expand the number of people required by law to report suspected sexual abuse of children....

The Egyptian government is paying for the reconstruction of a Coptic Orthodox church that was destroyed by arson earlier this month. The church in Soul, a town south of Cairo, was torched by a...

Christian groups in Pakistan are demanding a full explanation for the sudden death of a Christian man who was serving a life prison term after being convicted of blasphemy. Qamar David, who was...

Hundreds of Catholic youth from all over Japan have volunteered to assist the victims of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami, according to Father Daisuke Narui, director of Caritas Japan. “Today...

El Salvador’s leading prelate is urging President Barack Obama to address the issue of immigration reform during his March 22-23 visit to the Central American nation. “We would like to ask the...

The Obama administration’s refusal to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court is “an egregious violation of the separation of powers” that “puts the future prospects of our democracy at stake,”...

A month after a Green Party politician called for the defunding of Catholic schools and welfare agencies on the grounds that they engage in “discrimination,” Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous of...

A Philippine prelate is advising spouses to abstain from marital relations during Lent, according to one of the nation’s leading newspapers. “That is their own decision… but we encourage it,”...

Caritas Internationalis, the consortium of Catholic relief and development agencies, has issued an appeal to assist the victims of the Sendai earthquake and tsunami. “We have received so many...

The Italian people have “always had a sense of the duty, but at the same time the unique privilege,” of playing host to the Holy See, the center of Catholic life, Pope Benedict XVI has...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin defended the institution of marriage, expressed concerns about an overhaul of the Irish constitution, and maintained that the Catholic Church remains strong in...

Hundreds of Christians in Pakistan are renouncing the faith to embrace Islam, thus avoiding the threats, intimidation, and bias suffered by the nation's political minority. An AsiaNews report...

A Spanish priest who says that he paid for abortions faces disciplinary action from the Barcelona archdiocese. Father Manuel Pousa wrote, in a book released late in February, that he had provided...

Speaking at Catholic University in Washington, the US ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz, argued that government leaders should work cooperatively with religious groups. Noting a "worlwide...

The Boston archdiocese has listed a historic church for sale, drawing immediate protests from parishioners who note that the church has not yet been officially deconsecrated. Holy Trinity Church,...

Cardinal Raymond Burke denounced “the plague of procured abortion, the wholesale murder of the unborn in the womb,” in an address to an Australian audience. The American cardinal, who now heads...

An international study has found that the prevalence of sex-selection abortion in India is causing a severe shortage of young women, and by the year 2030 there will be 20% fewer women than men in...

An international study has found that the prevalence of sex-selection abortion in India is causing a severe shortage of young women, and by the year 2030 there will be 20% fewer women than men in...

A group representing victims of sexual abuse has objected to the news that the Philadelphia archdiocese is paying for an attorney to represent a priest accused of sexual abuse. David Clohessy,...

Catholics in India who remarry after the Church annuls a prior union could still face bigamy charges under the country’s laws. A lawyer representing a Catholic man who is facing a bigamy charge...

Writing for First Things, Wesley J. Smith warns of a new danger on the medical horizon: hospital ethics committees may be given the authority to override the ‘advance directives’ left by a patient,...

Speaking in Ireland, a Chaldean Catholic bishop who ministers in northern Iraq offered an overview of the persecution of Christians there and lamented the “the human rights abuses and near-genocide...

The Archdiocese of Karachi is demanding answers from prison officials following the prison death of Qamar David, a Catholic accused of blasphemy. “Given that he was accused of blasphemy, he was...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has reaffirmed that New Ways Ministry dissents from Catholic teaching on homosexuality and is not a Catholic organization. Cardinal Donald Wuerl...

An Anglican pastor who ministers in Cairo writes that the view is widespread that recent violence against Christians is “being orchestrated by pro-Mubarak members of the State Security and by...

The bishops of Ireland have issued a brief message for St. Patrick’s Day. “Patrick was called to serve and bring God to a people far from his homeland,” the bishops write. “In 2011 we are in the...

Calling the Catholic Church “a major factor” in contributing to the world's “population problem,” broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough told the Royal Society of Arts in London that...

Writing for First Things, Joe Carter observes that “biologically impossible ratios” of baby boys to girls exist in dozens of nations because of sex-selective abortions and girls’ higher death rates....

Pope Benedict XVI has conferred the title of “monsignor” on the three former Anglican bishops who entered the Catholic Church in January. Msgr. Keith Newton, who will lead the new Anglican...

Cardinal Francis George of Chicago may soon remove a controversial priest from the urban parish where he has been pastor for 30 years. Father Michael Pfleger met with Cardinal George this week,...

Cardinal William Levada presided at Mass on March 17 in St. Patrick’s church in Rome, as the church serving the Irish community celebrated its 100th anniversary on the feast of its...

Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, met on March 16 with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Neither the Vatican nor the Russian Orthodox Church...

The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have issued a statement claiming that the crisis at Japanese nuclear power plans vindicates their opposition to the development of peaceful nuclear...

The Arcus Foundation has given nearly $500,000 to organizations that oppose Catholic teachings on homosexuality, notes Tom Peters of CatholicVote. Run by gay activists, the Arcus Foundation has...

Sophie in ‘t Veld, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, gives voice to militant secularism in a remarkably polemical column for the Guardian. The Dutch politician finds it ominous that...

Pope Benedict XVI has been a strong proponent of lectio divina, the prayerful reading of the Scriptures, and has offered demonstrations of the practice in his meetings with Rome's priests and...

Aid to the Church in Need has issued its 2011 report on the persecution of Christians worldwide. The report, which examines persecution in 33 nations, notes that “Christians in Muslim countries...

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s leading representative at UN offices in Geneva, has reminded fellow diplomats that both parents have a fundamental right to educate children in their...

By a voice vote, the House Judiciary Committee has approved a resolution reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the national motto and “encouraging the public display of the national motto in all public...

Some 2,000 faithful, led by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, welcomed the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux into Jerusalem in a solemn procession. “We welcome Little Therese with emotion,” said...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has written the Japanese hierarchy “to assure you of the prayers and solidarity of the...

Commenting on the 150th anniversary of Italy’s independence, George Weigel writes that “it would take a particular kind of obtuseness, combined with over-the-top romanticism, to think that the loss...

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the display of a crucifix in a public-school classroom is not a violation of human rights. The March 18 decision by the Strasbourg court...

An elderly Irish bishop will not resume public ministry, although he has been cleared of sex-abuse charges. The Irish Independent profiles Bishop Eamon Casey, noting that neither the Irish...

Church leaders and pro-life legislators in the Philippines are expressing confidence that they will be able to secure enough votes to block an aggressive birth-control bill. Cardinal Ricardo...

Ten Australian Catholic bishops have joined in a statement warning the faithful against support for the Green Party, pointing to the party’s public stands that violate “the beliefs and values of...

Christians in Malaysia are refusing to accept shipment of 35,000 Bibles, after the country’s government said that each Bible must carry a warning label to say that the book is “for the use of...

The "Courtyard of the Gentiles,” a Vatican bid to start conversations with non-believers, will be unveiled in Paris next week. At a March 18 Vatican press conference, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,...

Pratibha Devisingh Patil, the president of India and the first woman to hold the office, has expressed grave concern over reports of a steady decline in the number of young women in the country. ...

Italian police have accused a tour guide of bilking tourists by selling false "tickets" to the May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II. The American-born suspect, who is already charged with...

An American Lutheran group, the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church—has expressed a desire to enter an ordinariate established in the US for former Anglicans entering the Catholic Church. Leaders of...

US President Barack Obama will visit the grave of Archbishop Oscar Romero during a trip to El Salvador next week. Archbishop Romero, who had frequently denounced human-rights violations in El...

Muslim extremists have burned down 69 Protestant churches-- 46 of them Pentecostal-- in southwestern Ethiopia. The violence started in the town of Asendabo following reports that the Qur’an was...

Marking the first anniversary of Pope Benedict’s letter to Irish Catholics, the bishops of Ireland have issued a pastoral statement, “Towards Healing and Renewal.” “The abuse of children by...

Over 1,000 Mexican priests were victims of attempted extortion last year, and 162 received death threats, according to an analysis by the Mexico-based Centro Católico Multimedial. Twelve priests...

Discussing the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left thousands dead in Japan, the director of the Holy See Press Office has called for reflection on the “correct use” and risks of nuclear...

Between 1969 and 2009, Catholic weddings declined by 71%-- from 4,452 to 1,300-- in Rhode Island. During the same time period, the number of civil marriages fell by 17%. 59% of Rhode Island’s...

A homemade bomb was thrown at an elderly woman who was taking part in a pro-life prayer vigil in Kalispell, Montana. The woman was not injured. “If the bomb were aimed at this lady and the...

The Vatican has welcomed the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights upholding the display of a crucifix in Italian schools. The decision recognizes “that the culture and rights of man...

During his regular Angelus audience on Sunday, March 20, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of his “great apprehension” about military action in Libya, and issued “an urgent appeal to everyone with political...

A majority of Americans now favor legal recognition of same-sex marriage, according to a Washington Post-ABC news poll. The poll shows 53% in favor of same-sex marriage, and 44% opposed. The...

Pope Benedict XVI underlined the importance of pastoral support for young families, during a March 20 visit to a parish on the outskirts of Rome. The Holy Father told the people of St....

Pope Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia concluded their annual Lenten Retreat on Saturday evening, March 19. The Holy Father thanked the preacher of this year’s spiritual exercises,...

Nearly 1,000 people attended a special Mass of Reparation in a chapel at a university in Madrid on March 18, a week after a group of students had invaded the chapel to shout blasphemies. Bishop...

As the Catholic bishops of India begin their ad limina visits to the Vatican, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai told Vatican Radio that their greatest challenge involved "how to live Jesus in a...

Libya’s top Catholic leader has condemned the military action in his nation, insisting that “we need to cease shooting immediately and begin mediation straight away to resolve the crisis...

Pope Benedict's new book, the 2nd volume of his work Jesus of Nazareth, placed 10th on the latest New York Times list of best-sellers in the non-fiction category. Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week:...

The Daughters of St. Paul, a religious order involved in media apostolates, has filed suit against the Boston archdiocese, seeking to protect the pensions of the apostolates' lay employees. The...

The popular American Sunday-evening television program, '60 Minutes,' profiled Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, portraying him as a powerful emerging force in the American Catholic Church and...

The controversial Chicago priest, Father Michael Pfleger, has confirmed that Cardinal Francis George has asked him to accept a new assignment. But Father Pfleger told his congregation at St....

Christians in the Middle East are “experiencing the actuality of martyrdom” and desperately need the support of their brothers around the world, said the prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern...

Elizabeth Scalia offers a balanced perspective on what we know (not much) and what we don’t know (a lot) regarding charges that have reportedly been leveled against Father Corapi. Father...

Calling for a “strategic alliance” in which Catholic and Orthodox believers act as “allies,” the Russian Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical officer lauded the “real positive results in normalization...

A Florida Protestant pastor burned the Qu’ran before a small crowd on March 20. Terry Jones, whose threats to burn the Qu’ran last year provoked an international outcry and led to the bombing of...

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon and two local Muslim leaders will lead a brief period of meditation on March 26 to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the murder of seven Trappists in Algeria....

The bishops of Kenya have appealed for assistance as 2.1 million Kenyans face the prospect of famine brought on by drought. “We are all deeply concerned by this crisis and suffering of many...

Chestnut Hill College and Jim St. George have reached a settlement less than a month after the college announced that the openly homosexual “priest” would no longer be teaching classes there. St....

Two Jesuit universities and two Protestant divinity schools will hold a series of conferences this fall devoted to “sexual diversity and the Catholic Church.” The first conference, at Fordham...

The Vatican has issued new guidelines for the teaching of philosophy to seminary students. At a March 22 press conference in Rome, officials of the Congregation for Catholic Education explained...

Egyptian Christians voted against proposed changes in their country’s constitution, Reuters reports, because quick elections could lead to the rise of an Islamic government. The amendments that...

A spokesman for the Australian bishops’ conference has decried the call for a boycott of the new English translation of the Roman Missal, saying that it would “open the doors to liturgical...

The Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), the most visible organization representing Anglicans seeking to enter the Catholic Church, has seen major fissures in its ranks since Anglicanorum Coetibus...

The Facebook page set up for the beatification of Pope John Paul II drew almost 30,000 fans in its first week. The beatification Facebook page includes videos from the pontificate of John Paul...

At a UN session in Geneva, the Vatican's delegate has argued that respect for fundamental human rights should not be used as a pretext for forcing public acceptance of homosexual...

After more than a decade of aggressively recruiting Catholic members, the police force in Northern Ireland will no longer give special preference to Catholic candidates. Owen Paterson, the...

Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, has renewed his criticism of military intervention in Libya. “From last night to tonight we heard several very loud...

The bishops of Pakistan have condemned the March 20 burning of the Qu’ran by a Florida Protestant pastor. Two Pakistani churches were attacked last year after Rev. Terry Jones said that he would...

Two bomb attacks against Protestant churches in the central Nigerian region of Jos have failed. One bomb exploded prematurely, killing the three attackers; the other failed to detonate. The...

As the Ivory Coast descends into civil war, a convent of Poor Clare nuns has been hit by heavy artillery fire. The nuns, who were praying in the convent’s chapel, were not injured. The convent is...

Only 31% of Catholics who attend Mass at least weekly oppose granting legal recognition to homosexual unions, according to a new report by the Public Religion Research Institute. 64% favor some sort...

National Public Radio has profiled the work of Salesians who assist street children in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. “The Salesians try to get them caught up in school, and teach them a useful...

At his regular weekly public audience on March 23, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of St. Lawrence of Brindisi (1559- 1619), and made a pointed reference to the saint's work as a mediator, easing conflicts...

Two Pakistani Christians were killed and two others seriously wounded when young Muslims shot then outside a church in Hyperabad on Monday evening, March 21. The shootings took place after a...

The US State Department is reportedly trying to convince Latin American diplomats at the UN that the Vatican backs a proposal to condemn discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation and gender...

A study by the American Physical Society (APS) has confirmed the well-established trend away from religious affiliation in secularized Western societies, and predicted that the trend will...

A new law in South Dakota, which would take effect on July 1, mandates a 72-hour waiting period for a woman seeking an abortion. The bill, which was signed by Governor Dennis Daugaard on March...

L'Osservatore Romano has criticized France for a "hasty" decision to begin military operations in Libya. The Vatican newspaper said that the military strategy reflected "great confusion," and...

The Cuban government has agreed to release the last political prisoners from a group of 75 arrested in 2003. The release of prisoners has been negotiated by the Catholic Church, with Cardinal...

Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli, has called for a truce in the Libyan conflict following continued military intervention by a coalition of 14 nations. “The...

Five Iranian Christians will soon stand trial on charges of blasphemy against Islam, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. The five-- a Protestant pastor and four laymen-- have already been...

Accompanied by Archbishop Escobar Alas of San Salvador and President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador, President Barack Obama visited the tomb of the Servant of God Oscar Romero on the evening of March...

The executive director of Caritas Japan warns that the nation faces the prospect of major epidemics because of lack of sanitation. 300,000 people have been evacuated from their homes following...

In a temporary victory for supporters of Proposition 8-- the 2008 California ballot measure that recognized marriage as the union of a man and a woman-- the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has...

Numerous migrant workers and their children have been prevented from receiving the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, First Confession, and First Holy Communion because of parish regulations, says...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a Spanish-language radio campaign designed to strengthen marriage and family life among Latino Catholics. “Our main...

Citing Canon 1251, various dioceses, Catholic bloggers, and even secular newspapers are noting that the obligation to abstain from meat is abrogated on Friday, March 25, because it is the Solemnity...

Church leaders are calling public attention to the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the outspoken critic of human-rights abuses in El Salvador, who was shot and killed while celebrating Mass on...

A new Vatican initiative to open dialogue with the secular world, the “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” should not be seen as an effort to convert unbelievers, according to the Vatican official...

The head of St. Patrick’s seminary in Maynooth has angrily denied a published report that the institution could soon cease to function as Ireland’s national seminary. Michael Kelly of the Irish...

With only 6% of the world's Catholic population, the US accounts for 60% of the annulments granted by Church tribunals. In a Catholic World Report feature, Jeff Ziegler asks why. Some Church...

Thomas Peters gives us reason to question the results of a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), which purported to show that Catholics were more likely than other Americans favor...

Anna Arco of London's Catholic Herald interviews Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the new apostolic nuncio to Great Britain. The interview is noteworthy for two reasons. Archbishop Mennini recounts...

Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, strongly insisted that politicians who support legal abortion should be denied the Eucharist, in a powerful keynote address to a symposium on priestly...

Paul Bhatti has been appointed a "special adviser" to the prime minister of Pakistan, responsible for the affairs of religious minorities, the Fides news service reports. Paul Bhatti is the...

Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman who faces a death sentence after being convicted of violating the nation's blasphemy law, has undertaken a rigorous Lenten fast, prompting relatives to fear for her...

Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute contrasts the new books by two theologians whose lives have crossed several times: Pope Benedict XVI and Hans Küng. The comparison is not flattering to...

The bishops of the United States “remain especially firm in our commitment to remove permanently from public ministry any priest” who has sexually abused a child, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president...

The apostolic vicar of Tripoli has renewed his criticism of military intervention in Libya and called upon the international community to “allow room” for the African Union’s attempt at...

In an address delivered at Catholic University of America, Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles sought to “outline what I believe to be the root issues with US-Mexican migration,” “explain the...

The provincial of the Discalced Carmelite friars in Lebanon is urging Christians there not to sell land or emigrate despite the economic difficulties they face. “We might suffer, we might have...

Marking the anniversary of the Archbishop Oscar Romero’s assassination, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is calling upon the US government to “do more for the people of Latin...

Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house, has announced the publication of a selection of Pope John Paul II’s in-flight interviews with journalists. “Today, the words that...

A study conducted by Northwestern University researchers has found that young adults who attend church services at least weekly are more than twice as likely to become obese than those who do not....

The “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” a Vatican initiative to promote dialogue with unbelievers, opened a 2-day event in Paris on March 24. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical...

The UN’s Human Rights council has adopted a resolution endorsing religious freedom, distancing itself from previous resolutions that condemned “defamation of religion.” The UN body made its...

The Oregon province of the Society of Jesus has agreed to pay $166 million to victims of sexual abuse by Jesuits in Native American communities of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The settlement is...

A 40-year-old bishop serving in Argentina has been elected to lead the Ukrainian Catholic Church: the largest Eastern Church in communion with the Holy See. Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the...

An estimated 20,000 people joined in a March 25 rally in Manila, voicing their opposition to legislation that would launch an aggressive family-planning effort in the Philippines. Cardinal...

A New York city ordinance imposing new restrictions on pregnancy-help centers faces a constitutional challenge. Expectant Mother Care (EMC), a chain of 12 pregnancy-help centers, has filed suit,...

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has promised that former Anglicans will be “warmly welcomed” into the Catholic Church when they enter the new Anglican ordinariate. The archbishop’s words...

Pope Benedict XVI has offered his support and prayers to the newly elected Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church. In a message to Patriarch Bechara Rai, who was elected by the Maronite Synod...

The rite of Confession can be a learning experience for both priests and penitents, Pope Benedict XVI said on March 25. Addressing an annual Vatican conference on the "internal forum," the Pope...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 25 with the bishops of India's Syro-Malankar Catholic Church, who were making their ad limina visits to Rome. The Holy Father encouraged the Indian prelates to...

Marquette University, a Jesuit-run institution in Wisconsin, will offer “domestic-partner” benefits to employees beginning next year. Marquette’s president, Robert Wild, said that offering...

Recent efforts by the Chinese regime to control the Catholic Church have put any prospects for diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Beijing on the back burner, reports Father Bernardo...

The single most talked-about passage in a new book by Pope Benedict XVI is his treatment of efforts to evangelize Jews. In the National Catholic Register, Jimmy Akin provides an admirably complete...

Military intervention in Libya, in the judgment of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), “appears to meet” the just-cause criterion of Catholic teaching on just war. The USCCB,...

The bishops of Pakistan have asked the Holy See to declare Shabhaz Bhatti a martyr and patron of religious freedom. Bhatti, a layman who served as federal minister of minorities, was assassinated on...

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has announced that it has resumed relief operations in the troubled Sudanese province of Darfur, after warning that those operations might be closed down because of...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is opposing a proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the...

As civilians flee strife-torn Ivory Coast’s capital for the countryside, the nation’s leading prelate has asked the European Union to end a month-old embargo on medicine. “You do not need a lot...

Father Theodore Hesburgh, who served as the president of the University of Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987, has been awarded Catholic Charities USA’s Centennial Medal, “the most prestigious symbol of...

Dale Fushek, the excommunicated former vicar general of the Diocese of Phoenix and founder of the international youth ministry Life Teen, has lashed out at Bishop Thomas Olmsted in a new...

Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk was enthroned as the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church—the largest Eastern Church in communion with the Holy See—in a solemn ceremony in Kyiv on March...

“The question of God must not be absent from the great questions of our time,” Pope Benedict XVI insisted as he addressed the first meeting of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” a Vatican initiative...

Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the dignity of human labor as he met on March 26 with a group of pilgrims from the Italian diocese of Terni-Narni-Amelia. The diocesan pilgrimage commemorated the...

On March 27, Pope Benedict XVI visited the “Fosse Ardeatine,” a cite on the outskirts of Rome that marks a 1944 Nazi massacre. The Pope was accompanied by Rabbi Ricardo Di Segni, the head of...

At his Angelus audience on Sunday, March 27, Pope Benedict XVI said that the day’s Gospel, recounting the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, makes “a clear allusion to the...

Pope Benedict XVI said that he is “becoming progressively more concerned about the welfare and safety of civilians” as a NATO bombing campaign continues. As he concluded his regular public...

Pope Benedict XVI met on March 28 with Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus, for a discussion of the problems of the Middle East in general and Cyprus in particular. The Pope spoke with...

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen an Augustinian nun, Mother Maria Rita Piccione, to write the meditations that will be read during the Way of the Cross on Good Friday at the Colosseum in Rome. Pope...

A Christian group in India has charged that there is a criminal conspiracy between Hindu zealots and army officers to allow violence against Christians. The Christian Secular Forum said that a...

Two Christians were killed and churches burned in Pakistan as militant Muslims continued to assault the local Christians, in a campaign of vengeance that was triggered by the news that a Florida...

Bishop Richard Malone of Portland (Maine) has declared March 29 a day of prayer and penance for the sin of clerical sexual abuse. In addition to offering a special Mass at the cathedral, the bishop...

Australia's leading public advocate of legal euthanasia, Phililp Nitschke, hopes to open an assisted-suicide clinic in Adelaide if a law lifting criminal penalties on the practice is passed....

Writing in London's Catholic Herald, William Oddie makes a brash claim: not merely that the NATO air strikes on Libya are justified under the standards of "just war" set by St. Thomas Aquinas, but...

The bishops of Northern Africa have called for an end to the military conflict in Libya. “We know that war solves nothing, and when it breaks out, it is just as uncontrollable as the explosion of...

Two days after his March 27 enthronement as head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said he would ask Pope Benedict to raise the Eastern Catholic church to...

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued an election guide ahead of the May 2 federal election. The bishops offer five “examples of how Catholic moral and social teaching is to be...

Lamenting indifference to the worldwide persecution of Christians, the Russian Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical officer said that the Western invasion of Iraq brought suffering to numerous...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has issued a pastoral letter on the Sacrament of Penance. The letter, reprinted in the new issue of Origins, calls upon all Catholics to make a good...

More than 500 students, staff, and supporters of an African-American Catholic high school in New Orleans marched on archdiocesan offices to protest Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s decision to end...

Proponents of aggressive family-planning legislation in the Philippines failed to gain parliamentary approval as a legislative session ended. But the measure will be on the docket when lawmakers...

In a message to a conference of Latin American bishops, devoted to family-life ministry, Pope Benedict XVI said that pastoral care for the family is a vital component of the Church’s evangelical...

Two Augustinian nuns are collaborating on the text and illustrations to be used for the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Coliseum on Good Friday. The Vatican has announced that Sister Elena...

The newly elected leader of the Maronite Catholic Church voices his concerns for Lebanon and the Middle East during his investiture ceremony. Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rahi alluded to the...

A new flare-up of violence could reflect the breakdown in Israel-Palestinian talks, according to the head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Speaking on Vatican Radio, Father...

Ireland's education minister has formed a blue-ribbon panel to examine how the nation's primary schools can be moved out of the control of the Catholic Church. About 90% of Ireland's primary...

Vatican planners are expecting at least 300,000 people each of the public events surrounding the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1. Organizers say that earlier estimates, predicting...

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, reports that he has seen strong interest among French non-believers in continuing the dialogue that was opened by the...

A California company that uses tissues from aborted children to test its products is supply artificial flavors for major American food manufacturers, a Florida pro-life group has...

Armed Muslims attacked and tried to burn down a Catholic church in Pakistan on March 28, in the latest in a series of violent incidents in which Islamic militants hit Christian targets. Pakistani...

Amid continued concern about the Fukushima nuclear accidents that have followed the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a Japanese bishop has told the Fides news agency that he opposes the construction...

Testifying before a senate judiciary subcommittee hearing on “Protecting the Civil Rights of American Muslims,” Cardinal Theodore McCarrick defended the religious freedom of Muslims and...

A Mexican prelate has called upon drug traffickers to repent and seek God’s forgiveness. “Repent and believe in the Gospel," said Archbishop José Guadalupe Martín Rábago of León, Mexico’s...

Members of the Indonesian military allegedly tortured youths in an ecumenical chapel at a military base. One of the youths, a 24-year-old Catholic, has died. The reported torture “desecrates a...

The bishops of Arizona have issued a strongly worded statement against the death penalty. “We firmly hold that capital punishment is state-sanctioned vengeance that is not in keeping with the...

A prominent New York priest who was laicized by Pope Benedict has filed suit against the man who accused him of abuse. “When he made this accusation in writing, [a former seminarian] knew it was...

While much attention has been focused on the decline of vocations to the priesthood and women’s religious life in the United States, less attention has been paid to the dwindling numbers of...

Priests must dedicate themselves to the sacrament of Penance, to combat “clear signs of a loss of moral conscience” in our age, Pope Benedict XVI told his weekly audience on March 30. The Holy...

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv, the newly elected head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on March 30. At his regular Wednesday audience, the...

When the Vatican declined to approve a new term for Lesley-Anne Knight, the secretary-general of Caritas International, a brief statement indicated that the Holy See wanted to reinforce the...

The Catholic bishops of the Philippines have renewed their talks with President Benigno Aquino III about proposed legislation to promote family planning. The bishops, who have adamantly opposed...

Pope John Paul II has been posthumously awarded a “Medal of Valor” by the Simon Weisenthal Center, a group dedicated to confronting anti-Semitism and preserving the memory of the Holocaust....

Lawyers representing the victims of sexual abuse by a former Jesuit priest have presented an Illinois court with a chain of evidence showing that the priest’s Jesuit superiors had received and...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent Cardinal Peter Turkson to Ivory Coast to “express my solidarity and that of the universal Church” to the victims of a continuing struggle for power in the African...

A Chinese bishop has been ordained, with the full approval of the holy See, for the first time this year. Bishop Paul Liang Jiansen was consecrated on March 30 to head the Jiangmen diocese. All...

Pakistan is under siege by a “kind of Mafia” of Islamic extremists, according to a prominent Catholic priest there. Militant Muslims are responsible for the deaths of prominent public figures...

In a new exposé, the pro-life activist group Live Action has found that Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms—despite a concerted public-relations effort claiming that the group provides that...

The Campbell Soup company has severed its business ties with a California corporation that uses cells from aborted children to test artificial flavors. Following revelations that Senomyx...

The Maryknoll order has warned an excommunicated priest that he faces dismissal if he does not recant his public support for the ordination of women. In August 2008, Father Roy Bourgeois, A...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has announced that 2 retired priests have been placed on administrative leave, in the wake of a grand-jury investigation that charged many priests in the archdiocese...

The apostolic vicar of Tripoli has renewed his criticism of military intervention in Libya and called upon the international community to turn to the African Union to mediate in the crisis. “To...

The Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a 21-page critique of Quest for the Living God by Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a Fordham University professor...

The international community failed to take due notice of the humanitarian crisis brought on by Ivory Coast’s descent into civil war, Vatican Radio notes. More than one people have fled their...

A man with a paralyzed leg who visited Lourdes in 2002 regained the use of his leg and subsequently made a 1,000-mile pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. “In the name of the Church, I publicly...

Some 180 anonymous volunteers, led by a Christian, are carrying out emergency operations in the Fukushima I nuclear power plant in the hopes of averting a nuclear disaster. “In the midst of this...

Stating that “the Catholic Church abhors all forms of homophobia and will not provide a venue for homophobes,” an Australian Catholic secondary college has withdrawn permission to allow a Protestant...

The Vatican has released the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for the month of April 2011. The Pope's general intention is: "That through its compelling preaching of the Gospel, the Church...

Australian Church leaders are “quietly moving to that stage when we hope the Holy See will establish an ordinariate” to serve Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, the bishop guiding the process...

Tough new standards governing all financial transactions by Vatican agencies will come into effect on Friday, April 1. The new rules--promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI last December, in response...

In an annual message to the world’s Buddhists, the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue stresses the importance of seeking truth, as a requirement for peace. The Vatican statement says...

A rise in Satanic activity can be attributed in part to the widespread availability of information on the internet, according to Church experts gathered for a conference on the problem. Meeting...

Australia's Catholic bishops have issued a blunt warning to their people about the political policies favored by the Green Party, notes William Oddie, writing in London's Catholic Herald. The...

Examining a report on the decline in vocations among women's religious orders, Terry Mattingly notices that a young woman's parents sometimes discourage interest in the convent--because, among other...

Pakistan's interior minister has called upon Interpol to investigate the burning of a copy of the Qur'an in Florida, and asked Pope Benedict XVI to condemn the act. Rehman Malike made his requests...