Catholic World News

Acknowledging that “the fiscal status quo is unsustainable, with mounting deficits and growing debt for our children,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging the Joint...

The Diocese of Asansol, located in an overwhelmingly Hindu and Muslim area of eastern India, now has 29,000 Catholics--twice the number it had when it was founded in 1997. “We are a growing Church,...

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the nation’s first Muslim congressman, left the Catholic faith because “I just felt it was ritual and dogma.” “Of course, that’s not the reality of Catholicism, but...

The National Committee for a Human Life Amendment (NCHLA)--which works closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on abortion-related legislation--is urging pro-life Americans to...

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has welcomed a high court decision that forbids the nation’s government from returning two asylum seekers to Malaysia. “Now is the time for all people...

L’Osservatore Romano has paid tribute to Eugene Nida, the recently deceased Protestant scholar who developed the dynamic-equivalence theory, which emphasizes “thought-for-thought” translations over...

The Vatican has completed, and will soon release, a detailed response to criticism from the Irish government in the wake of the Cloyne report, according to Vatican Insider. In July the apostolic...

The former Philadelphia archdiocesan official who is facing trial on child-endangerment charges has admitted that he lied to an abuse victim, court documents show. In testimony before the grand...

The government of the Czech Republic has reached a tentative agreement with religious leaders to return church properties confiscated by the Communist regime, or provide compensation for property...

As the Catholic bishops of India make their ad limina visits to Rome, Pope Benedict XVI has shown a special concern for the anti-Christian violence in regions such as Karnataka, reports Cardinal...

In a message to an ecumenical assembly in Greece, Pope Benedict XVI has said that all Christians should work together to counteract “a secularization capable of impoverishing the most profound...

An Italian priest who has been a vocal critic of the Mafia reports that shots were fired at his parked car as “a serious warning.” Father Giuseppe Campisano was not in his car, which was parked...

The Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has agreed to pay $90,000 to settle charges of false Medicare and Medicaid billing by its Catholic Family Services counseling program. The diocese did...

In an article that is appearing in diocesan newspapers across the United States, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is presented as a model Catholic politician. The article begins: The office of...

David Quinn argues that the Irish government is threatening all religious faiths—not just Catholicism—with a proposal to require mandatory reporting of sex-abuse allegations even if they are heard...

On September 21, Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong of Kwangju will become the first South Korean prelate to visit Communist North Korea in over five years. “It is a very positive sign: the...

Father Jose Reinel Restrepo Idárraga, a 36-year-old parish priest, was murdered on September 1 in Marmato, a gold-mining town in western Colombia. He was shot twice in the chest while riding a...

In an effort to counter pressure from the state government to have smaller families, some parishes in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala--the center of Catholicism in the nation since its...

Two new Catholic high schools are opening in the Archdiocese of Detroit, the result of initiatives by parents. Catholic school enrollment in the archdiocese has plummeted from 203,000 in 1964-65 to...

Teachers at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New York have been working without a contract since September 1. The teachers’ union is seeking annual 2% raises for teachers over three years; the...

Father Paul Arinze, a Nigerian-born priest who serves as vocations director of the Diocese of Madison, is also a tennis umpire who has worked at Wimbledon and the US Open. The diocese projects...

Father Kevin Madigan, pastor of a parish located a block away from the Twin Towers, discussed the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an interview with the National Catholic Register. “I was going from...

On September 3, the Vatican released its detailed response to the Cloyne report and to the criticism expressed by Irish political leaders about Church leaders’ responses to sex-abuse reports....

In comments on the Vatican’s response to Cloyne report (see today’s separate CWN headline story), Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin underlined the need to ensure that Church leaders are fully...

The Vatican has announced an overhaul in the leadership of the Governatorate that administers the affairs of the Vatican city-state. Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, who has been the apostolic...

The chairman of the Nestlé corporation has his own special perspective on global-hunger problems. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal he is arguing for acceptance of genetically modified...

Writing for First Things, Father Raymond de Souza provides an excellent analysis of the Vatican's response to the Cloyne report. Father de Souza makes a number of incisive observations about the...

Pope Benedict XVI sent a message of condolence after an accident that killed all 21 passengers on a Chilean military plane on September 3. The Pope’s message, conveyed in a telegram to Archbishop...

Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the prayer of prayer, and the obligation for Christians to admonish sinners, during his Angelus audience on Sunday, September 4. Fraternal love, the Pope said,...

The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople has said that he is “satisfied” that Turkey’s government plans to return properties that had been seized from the Church. But Patriarch Bartholomew I makes...

The Australian Catholic bishops’ conference has called for action to reverse the explosive growth in the country’s prison population. The number of prisoners in Australian jails has nearly...

Cardinal Andrzej Maria Deskur, the retired president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, died on September 4 at the age of 87. The Polish prelate had worked for decades at the...

Serbian Orthodox officials are considering an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to join in celebrations marking the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan. Although Russian Orthodox Church leaders...

“Mother Teresa was the face of compassion to the world,” remarked the retired Archbishop Henry D’Souza of Calcutta on the 15th anniversary of the renowned nun’s death. “Compassion is what the world...

The Vatican urged Filipino bishops not to become actively involved in a bid to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005, according to revelations in WikiLeaks cables. The WikiLeaks...

Speaking from Italy, where he is undergoing medical treatment, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli said that Catholics in Libya’s capital were safe following the entry of rebel forces into the...

The Church in Cuba has reiterated its condemnation of attacks on “defenseless persons” amid reports of increasing harassment of members of the dissident organization Ladies in White. “It is well...

Twenty masked men destroyed the altar, confessionals, and vestments in a parish in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala on the evening of September 4. “We have had, in recent years, a growth...

Malawi’s priests and religious have rallied to the defense of a prominent prelate after the nation’s president accused him of being influenced by the political opposition. Bishop Joseph Mukasa...

For the first time, the Vatican Museums are lending Raphael’s Madonna of Foligno to another institution. With Pope Benedict’s approval, the Madonna of Foligno will be displayed in Dresden next to...

Caritas Internationalis, the confederation of Catholic relief and development agencies, has issued appeal on behalf of Bangladesh, where 1.5 million have been affected by severe flooding. “For...

In the latest massive release of Wikileaks documents, one diplomatic cable from an American analyst demonstrates that the documents are not always based on accurate intelligence. One day before...

Although about 400 Austrian priests have now joined in a call for open disobedience of Church authority, Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn does not perceive a major crisis, a spokesman has...

Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Enda Kenny has refused to back off his criticism of the Holy See, despite a Vatican statement insisting that the criticism was unfounded. Kenny defended the fiery...

At least 14 people have died in tribal clashes in central Nigeria in the early days of September. Although the violence has pitted Christians against Muslims, a Catholic bishop insists that religion...

In a new biography of Cardinal Angelo Scola, veteran Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli tells how, as a seminarian, the future prelate was maneuvered out of the Milan archdiocese, and eventually...

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, Australia, has rejected public criticism of the archdiocesan response to sex-abuse complaints. After an editorial call in The Age for a government...

Timo Soini, a rising star in the Finnish political firmament, is a convert to Catholicism who makes it clear he needs “nobody’s permission to be pro-life” and “marriage should only be between a man...

An Amsterdam court has upheld a Catholic school’s right to issue a dress code that includes a ban on the wearing of headscarves. The father of a Muslim student, Imane Mahssan, had filed suit against...

Wealthy Pakistanis, including Christians, are being kidnapped by members of al-Qaida in order to gain ransom money for funding their operations, according to the national director of the Pontifical...

The leading prelate in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka has denounced a state government report on the persecution of Christians. “The report actually denied that there were any attacks...

The discovery that many US sperm donors have fathered 50 or more children has given rise to fears of incest--at once calling to mind Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and manifesting the wisdom of Catholic...

Teachers at Philadelphia’s 17 Catholic high schools have gone on strike after their union rejected a contract offer from the archdiocese. The union will hold a protest outside archdiocesan...

After Proposition 8 (the 2008 ballot measure in which California voters recognized marriage as the union of a man and a woman) was declared unconstitutional, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and...

The Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, has paid $750,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by a woman who says she was raped as a child there by a visiting priest from India. The accused priest, Father...

Pope Benedict XVI resumed his series of talks on “the school of prayer” at his weekly public audience on September 7, reminding the faithful that God hears all pleas from the faithful, especially...

America has changed since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the US ambassador to the Vatican told a Vatican Radio audience. “With each day we learn anew and appreciate the value and...

Near the conclusion of his public audience on September 7, Pope Benedict XVI devoted a few moments to a reflection on the death of Cardinal Andrei Maria Deskur. In remarks addressed particularly...

A Pennsylvania judge has postponed a hearing to determine whether Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua is competent to testify in the trial of one of his former chancery staff members. Prosecutors have...

In a dramatic step to reverse an ancient cultural prejudice against female children—which has resulted in an epidemic of sex-selection abortion--officials of a district in northern India have...

An Orthodox priest, suspended from ministry at his own request, has announced his candidacy in Russia’s presidential race, which will be decided next year. Father Ioann Okhlobystin will run as an...

Two suicide bombings in Quetta--the capital of Pakistan’s western province of Balochistan--have damaged the home of Bishop Victor Gnanapragasam, the offices of Caritas, and three Catholic schools....

Local authorities in Mitte, Berlin’s central borough, have rejected a plan by the nation’s ruling party to allow a Catholic organization to make use of large billboards in welcoming the Pope to the...

A dozen unknown assailants have beaten a nun and a priest in Kangding, a city of 100,000 in a largely Tibetan area of south-central China. The two were seeking the return of Church properties...

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has condemned a terrorist attack outside the Delhi High Court. A bomb in a briefcase killed 11 and injured 74, according to a CNN report. “We are deeply...

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has again called upon Congress to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. “Recent events make this...

By a 368-118 vote, the British Parliament has voted to continue to allow abortionists to offer pre-abortion counseling. Opponents of the status quo had proposed a mandate for neutral counseling,...

Citing a burgeoning Catholic population that has grown 42% since 2000, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh has announced that his diocese will build a 2,000-seat cathedral dedicated to the Holy Name...

Legislation put forward by the Irish government to require mandatory reporting of sex-abuse allegations will not specifically mention the matter, but a justice department official says that the bill...

An Italian bishop suffered multiple severe injuries when he fell from a ledge during a nighttime pilgrimage. Bishop Domenico Sigalini of Palestrina was leading a visit to the shrine of the Holy...

Meeting on September 8 with a group of bishops from India, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the contributions that the Church has made to society in that country, especially through Catholic...

Only 16% of American Catholics are acquainted with the “Faithful Citizenship” documents released by the US bishops’ conference as a guide for voters, a new survey shows. Only 3% have actually read...

The fear of genetic disorders, which prompts many parents to abort babies who are diagnosed with conditions like Down syndrome, shows “the banality of evil which does not seem to bother anyone,”...

Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa has condemned pre-election violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On Monday night, September 5, the headquarters of the country’s leading...

The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has indicated that the group will not accept a Vatican requirement that they accept the authority of Vatican II teachings. Bishop...

Any move to recognize same-sex marriage in Scotland will be “strenuously opposed” by the Catholic Church, Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Edinburgh told political leaders. In his homily at a Mass for...

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned an ad that showed a cartoon image of Jesus giving a gesture of approval for a “miraculous” deal on cell-phone service. The advertising...

Police have arrested ten members of an armed gang for damage done to a church in the southern Kerela state, as well as for attacks on nearby homes. Father Santhosh Yohannnan, procurator of the...

Church leaders in the Middle East were not prepared for the “Arab Spring” uprisings in the region, and reacted with concern and embarrassment, Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara al Rahi has...

Prince Alois of Liechtenstein has threatened to use his authority to veto legislation to liberalize the abortion laws of the small European country. On September 18, voters in Liechtenstein will...

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. “ We reverently recall those who were most...

Archbishop Charles Chaput was installed as the thirteenth ordinary of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on September 8. The prelate’s predecessors include St. John Neumann (1852-60), and, in more...

The Swiss episcopal conference is calling upon the nation’s government to require employers to offer compensated leave time for nursing mothers. “In Swiss legislation, the time necessary for...

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, chairman of the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has issued a statement supporting efforts by Alabama’s bishops to...

Aid to the Church in Need and Vatican Radio are drawing greater attention to an incident that Catholic World News reported on in August: the desecration of a Syro-Malankara Catholic church in the...

A self-described “born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ” has been arrested on suspicions of damaging dozens of statues at six New Jersey parishes in July. Curtis Condell, 41, has been charged...

In a letter to New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Pope Benedict XVI has recalled the terrorist attacks of 9/11, especially “brutal assault on twin towers of the World Trade Center,” and paid...

In a statement responding to the Vatican’s lengthy answer to the Cloyne report, the Irish government has taken a conciliatory tone, backing away from earlier harsh criticism of the Holy See. The...

Welcoming a new British ambassador to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI said the Holy See and the British government share a commitment to worldwide development, “with a special care for the needy and...

A young Pakistani Christian was kidnapped an killed as he made a pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in the Punjab province. Sunil Masih had left a group of pilgrims walking to the shrine at...

In India’s troubled Karnataka region, Hindu zealots have beaten boys who converted to Christianity, seeking to force their return to the Hindu faith. A Church leader in Karnataka, lamenting the...

In a thorough study of abortion statistics in New York City, the Chiaroscuro Foundation has found that more than half are obtained by women who have had at least one prior abortion, and more than...

A German court has ruled that Catholic institutions can dismiss employees who violate Church teachings regarding marriage--as long as all employees are treated equally. The court ruling came in a...

The prominent leader of the Anglicans seeking to enter the Catholic Church has revealed that he was driven out of the Catholic Church by sexual abuse he endured as a seminarian. Anglican...

Six months after a devastating earthquake in Japan, more than 100,000 people are still in need of shelter as winter approaches, the Caritas relief agency reports. The March 11 earthquake caused...

An Irish Catholic priest who was excommunicated in 1998 has sued the Diocese of Down and Connor for the title to the Church-owned home that he has refused to leave. Father Patrick Buckley was...

Blessed John Paul II recognized the terrorist attacks of 9/11 as an offense against “all of humanity,” recalls the US ambassador who was serving at the Vatican at the time. James Nicholson...

American medical schools are screening applicants for pro-life views, and probably rejecting many on that basis, believes Daniel Kuebler, a biology professor at Franciscan University in...

Outside observers often believe that problems in the Catholic Church—such as the sex-abuse problem—could be resolved by setting forth better policies. John Allen, writing in the National Catholic...

Aref Ali Nayed, one of the 138 Islamic leaders who answered Pope Benedict’s challenge to engage in inter-religious dialogue, has been named to the “transitional council” planning for the...

The bishops of Scotland have pledged their “strenuous opposition” as the Scottish government considers a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage. Urging the government not to heed “a vociferous...

The president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference is urging the nation’s government to act more forcefully against Boko Haram (“Western education is a sin”), an Islamist group that has been waging a...

The bishops of England and Wales are preparing the faithful for the resumption of the obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays. “The law of the Church requires Catholics on Fridays to abstain...

Speaking at the Umbrian Music Festival, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi rued the “separation of worship from high-quality music” and said that the directives of the Second Vatican Council should be fully...

L’Osservatore Romano has published a column by Father Robert Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York and Boston College theology professor, on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist...

A Philippine bishop is emphasizing the obligation of priests to wear clerical garb in public. “The Church is insistent that her ordained ministers wear the ecclesiastical garb,” said Bishop...

Pope Benedict XVI called attention to the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks during his regular midday audience on Sunday, offering his prayers for the deceased and an appeal for...

The Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia, has denied delaying its response to a sex-abuse complaint by Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth—although the Melbourne archdiocese has already concluded its...

A BBC report highlights the explosive growth of Christianity in China, suggesting that despite the government’s aggressive campaign to curb religious influence, the country’s people feel a deep...

The Vatican showed a willingness to cooperate with commission investigating sexual abuse in the Irish Church, the former Taoiseach (prime minister) revealed. The current Taoiseach, Enda Kenny,...

In a message to an ecumenical meeting in Munich, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “Everything depends on our readiness to understand living together as a commitment and a gift, on finding the path to true...

The Council of Europe is weighing a resolution that would a ban on sex-determination tests for unborn children, as a way of curbing sex-selection abortions. The draft resolution, which was...

A former leader of India’s Hindu-nationalist political party joined with Catholics in prayer at a Marian shrine on September 12: the feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Shri L.K. Advani, a major...

A top government official in the troubled Kandhamal district of India’s eastern Orissa state has assured Christians that orders to demolish churches, or to stop reconstruction of damaged church...

Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Ancona, Italy on September 11, to join in the 25th Italian National Eucharistic Congress. There he delivered a homily urging Italian Catholics to recover “the primacy...

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, has received a series of vituperative personal messages and even a veiled death threat. Although the staff of the Secretariat of State...

David Mills of First Things writes about the ugly career of John C. Cutler, a researcher who performed experiments on unwitting human subjects in Guatemala during the 1940s. Although his methods...

Five years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI delivered his memorable address to an academic audience in Regensburg. Samuel Gregg of the Acton Institute explains why that address still deserves...

Ignoring pleas from the Adelaide archdiocese, an Australian lawmaker has identified the priest who is accused of raping Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth. Speaking before parliament--and thus...

The Russian Orthodox Church’s chief ecumenical officer has told the Reuters news agency that the principal obstacle to a meeting between Pope Benedict and Patriarch Kirill is the dispute over...

Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Cardinal Edward Egan preached memorial Mass homilies on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. “What I propose at our Mass this Sunday morning,...

A retired Irish bishop has called for a change in the discipline of clerical celibacy. “I ask myself, more and more, why celibacy should be the great sacred and unyielding arbiter, the paradigm...

Amid burgeoning drug-related violence in Honduras, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga has lamented the moral crisis afflicting the nation. “The crisis is big, and not simply economic, but moral,”...

Father Oviedo Arrieta, a 34-year-old priest of the Diocese of Apartadó in northwestern Colombia, was brutally murdered on September 12. “The Catholic Church mourns for this new act of violence...

An international coalition of sex-abuse victims has lodged charges with the International Criminal Court at the Hague, charging Pope Benedict XVI and other leading Vatican officials with crimes...

A Spanish bishop has urged the Basque separatist group ETA to dissolve itself and to repent of its past involvement in terrorism. Bishop Jose Ignacio Munilla of San Sebastian said that ETA should...

The Vatican is close to an agreement with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that would regularize the status of the breakaway traditionalist group, according to a report in Le Figaro. Jean-Marie...

The Archbishop of Canterbury plans to retire next year, the Daily Telegraph reports. Dr. Rowan Williams will reportedly step down after the diamond-jubilee celebration of Queen Elizabeth II. The...

Father Frank Pavone, the president of Priests for Life, has been suspended from ministry outside of his Amarillo, Texas diocese. Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo revealed, in a letter to other...

A prominent Irish priest has encouraged women to protest the use of “sexist language” in the new English translation of the Roman Missal. Father Sean McDonagh, a founding member of the...

At a conference on anti-Christian discrimination, organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Vatican’s “foreign minister” called attention to “warning signs”...

The Vatican has announced plans to join in the observance of European Heritage Days by offering free admission to the Vatican Museums and the catacombs of Rome. The European Heritage Days, an...

Robert Reilly, the author of The Closing of the Muslim Mind, writes that the "Arab Spring" uprisings cannot bring democratic change to the Muslim world unless there is a fundamental change in the...

When Church leaders appeal for government to recognize the rights of the individual conscience, Hadley Arkes remarks, they risk creating confusion, because the contemporary world does not recognize...

The Justice and Peace Commission of the Pakistani Catholic bishops’ conference has released an exhaustive study on the suffering of religious minorities in that country. Entitled Human Rights...

Msgr. Ian Dempsey, a former chief chaplain of the Australian Royal Navy and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Adelaide, has denied allegations that he sexually assaulted Archbishop John Hepworth,...

Sister Carol Keehan, president of the Catholic Health Association (CHA), has issued a statement lauding the effects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health-reform program...

A Philadelphia Catholic teachers’ union strike has now shut down 17 archdiocesan Catholic high schools. Citing the “unique issues facing Catholic schools,” the archdiocese has rejected two union...

In honor of Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to Germany, an exhibition of the works of the Pontiff--both before and after his election to the papacy--will take place at the Teutonic Cemetery in the...

Bishop Edward Daly, the retired Irish bishop who is calling for a change in the discipline of clerical celibacy, “was ‘deeply disappointed’ by an experience of celebration of the Mass in Latin some...

The National Catholic Register has published an updated edition of its “Catholic College Identity Guide.” The newspaper queried Catholic colleges about co-ed dorms, the availability of daily...

Father Frank Pavone has announced that he will appeal Bishop Patrick Zurek’s decision to suspend his ministry outside the Diocese of Amarillo. “In 2005, I made a public promise in a Church...

The Vatican has asked the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to endorse a statement accepting the central teachings of Vatican II, suggesting that if the traditionalist group fulfills that requirement,...

At his weekly public audience on September 14, Pope Benedict XVI assured the faithful that God hears all our prayers, even when we do not feel His presence. The Pope continued his “school of...

The Stasi, the notorious secret service of East Germany under Communist rule, compiled a dossier of “several hundred pages” on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The Stasi began taking an interest in the...

Father Frank Pavone told reporters that he will seek incardination in another diocese following Bishop Patrick Zurek’s decision to end the priest’s ministry outside his diocese. Speaking at a...

The Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States is urging the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to take greater action against anti-Christian hate crimes. “In order to...

Seven cardinals and over six dozen other bishops attended the September 14 memorial Mass for Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who died on July 27. The Mass for the late apostolic nuncio to the United...

Two recent articles in the British press draw attention to one of the consequences of China’s one-child policy and preference for boys: “bachelor villages.” Over the next two decades, up to 50...

Saving is essential to the economic growth that will allow wealthier nations to escape their debt crises, according to the president of the Vatican Bank. Calling upon nations to “stop seeing...

L’Osservatore Romano has praised the “Shakespeare Sonnets” of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), a leading guitar composer who left Italy for the United States in 1939 amid increasing...

Meeting on September 15 with a group of about 100 newly ordained bishops, Pope Benedict XVI reminded them that the key to pastoral ministry is “not extinguishing the Spirit but testing and retaining...

On September 15, Pope Benedict XVI viewed an exhibit of his own published work, which has been set up temporarily at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. The Vatican publishing house...

The Australian priest who was identified in parliament as one of the clerics who molested Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth has heatedly denied the charge. Msgr. Ian Dempsey--who was named by...

The head of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has acknowledged that the Vatican has asked for the traditionalist group to accept a document regarding the teachings of Vatican II as “a preliminary...

Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, who has been serving as apostolic nuncio in Ireland, has been formally appointed nuncio to the Czech Republic. Czech government officials had revealed in August that...

At a time when many US dioceses are retrenching and closing parishes, an energetic pastor in Washington, DC is thinking about expansion, and has set the goal of doubling his parish membership within...

One hundred members of opposition parties have announced that they will boycott Pope Benedict’s speech to the German parliament. “That is so small-minded that one doesn't know whether to laugh...

The French interior ministry has banned public prayers by Muslims in the streets of Paris. As the Muslim population has grown, mosque seating has become insufficient; the government will permit...

The Swiss episcopal conference has apologized for not doing more to combat apartheid in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. The apology follows the publication of a study that found that Swiss...

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, has honored the late Father Ottavio Posta, enrolling him in the list of “Righteous among the Nations.” An Italian priest...

A Pakistani court has advised a Christian accused of blasphemy to leave the country. The Fides news agency reports that an anonymous Christian teacher in a Punjabi public school was accused by...

Returning to Tripoli after a trip to Italy for medical treatment, the apostolic vicar of Tripoli reported an atmosphere of calm. “Libya has changed,” says Bishop Giovanni Martinelli. Emphasizing...

Lawyers for the Catholic University of America (CUA) appeared on September 15 before the Office of Human Rights in Washington, DC, at a hearing on a charge that the school is engaging in illegal...

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India has called for urgent steps to remove the “perceived bias” among law-enforcement officials against the nation’s religious minorities. "Such a perception is...

The Vatican’s representative at UN offices in Geneva has condemned the diversion of funds from genuine medical care and spend those funds on contraception and abortion. Speaking at a session of...

The Seton Healthcare network in Texas has begun providing the “emergency contraceptive” Plan B pill to rape victims. The Plan B pill can prevent a fertilized ovum from implanting in the uterus,...

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, who drew controversy earlier this week by identifying the priest who was accused of molesting an Anglican prelate, has chided Adelaide's Archbishop Philip Wilson...

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston is urging Catholics to opposition a ballot initiative that would legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts. “We hope the citizens of the Commonwealth will not be...

Some Jewish organizations are expressing concern that the “Doctrinal Preamble” presented to the Society of St. Pius X by Vatican officials at a September 14 meeting would not require the society to...

By a 52%-48% margin, voters in Liechtenstein have rejected a measure that would have legalized abortion during the first trimester. 80% of the principality’s 34,000 residents are Catholic,...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Catholic high school teachers’ union have reached a tentative agreement that could lead to the reopening of 17 Catholic high schools. Terms of the tentative...

A year after the beatification of Blessed John Henry Newman, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has examined Blessed John Henry Newman’s sometimes misunderstood teaching...

A bishop in western India has told Aid to the Church in Need that as the lay faithful have become more highly educated, religious practice has increased. “I was a priest in this region in the...

Appearing on a German television show on September 19, Pope Benedict XVI said that during his September 22-25 visit to his native country he will bring a simple but challenging message: “We must...

How many alleged apparitions did the Holy See investigate in 2010? How many annulments did the Roman Rota consider, and how many were confirmed? How much money did papal charities grant to...

Catholic bishops are not alone in failing to confront the problem of sexual abuse, an Irish priest argues; the families of victims also share a portion of the blame. Father Paddy Banville writes...

At his Sunday Angelus audience on September 18, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that “the Gospel has transformed the world and continues to transform it.” The Pope centered his brief address on St....

Church leaders in India must be prepared “to walk in the footsteps of Christ, Who was Himself misunderstood, despised, falsely accused and Who suffered for the sake of truth,” Pope Benedict XVI told...

In an excellent essay on the damage done to society by “Nice Fornicators,” Anthony Esolen explains how the popular approval of serial monogamy, without any permanent commitment, places heavy burdens...

Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has warned rebellious priests against their defiance Church teachings on clerical celibacy, the ordination of women, and the indissolubility of marriage....

After a Chinese seminary dismissed a rector because of alleged embezzlement, government authorities have come to the accused priest’s defense, pressing for his reinstatement and refusing to allow...

Officials of the Adelaide archdiocese complained to the Vatican that Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth was acting irrationally in his pursuit of claims that he had been sexually abused during his...

The largest Catholic health-care system is helping to distribute condoms to prison inmates, the Herald Sun reports. The St. Vincent’s Health system was reportedly asked by government officials...

The “Arab Spring” uprisings are threatening to unleash Islamic fundamentalism, an Iraqi Catholic prelate has warned. Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said that in the Middle East, the Christian...

An English Catholic bishop has charged that British courts are misinterpreting human-rights laws to punish Christians. Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark complained of “wooly thinking” by judges...

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging his brother bishops to “focus public attention and priority on the scandal of so much poverty and so many without work in...

On the eve of Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to his native land, Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset, the apostolic nuncio to Germany since 2007, has offered an overview of the visit as well as the...

Seventy Protestants have left San Rafael Tlanalapan, a south-central Mexican village, after “traditionalist Catholics” threatened to crucify or lynch them if they remained, according to a report by...

Anthony Clark, an Asian history professor at Whitworth University, has analyzed the state of Catholicism in Beijing. Despite increasing government control, he writes, “churches continue to fill, the...

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church with 420,000 faithful, is holding the first general assembly in its history. The church’s history reaches back to the apostolic age....

In the wake of an appellate court decision that ordered the University of Wisconsin not to discriminate against a Catholic student organization in funding student activities, the university will pay...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to the Catholics of Great Britain, marking the 1st anniversary of his visit there, thanking them for their “warm welcome.” The Pope reminded the faithful in...

The cancellation of a state contract for adoption services will be "devastating" to Catholic Charities in Illinois, the Church agencies said in a court plea. Asking an Illinois judge to...

A suspended Orthodox priest has withdrawn from Russia's presidential campaign, having failed to gain support from the Orthodox Church. Father Ioann Okhlobystin, who had withdrawn from ministry to...

The Palestinian Authority is asking for UN status as an observer, and a vote on that petition would be tantamount to UN recognition of a Palestinian state. Bishop William Shomali, an auxiliary of...

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired Archbishop of Washington, joined Christian and Muslim leaders in a diplomatic mission to Iran, seeking the release of Americans hikers who are being held as...

Authorities in Moscow have demolished a hospice that had been founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and run by her Missionaries of Charity. Officials brushed aside a plea by the Russian Orthodox...

A heated dispute continues in Australia about the sexual-abuse charges lodged by Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth. Msgr. Ian Dempsey, who was named by Senator Nick Xenophon as one of Hepworth’s...

An Italian agricultural group has donated several beehives to the small working farm on the grounds of the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. The bees were presented to the papal household as...

Islamists seeking the release of prisoners detained on war-crimes charges went on a rampage in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, burning cars and looting shops. The nation’s leading prelate, Archbishop...

In an important victory for religious liberty, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled unanimously that Boise Rescue Mission--a Christian homeless shelter that does not accept government...

The government of Eritrea--one of the most repressive in the world--has placed 3,000 Christians in prison, “where they face mistreatment and deprivation of food and medical treatment, pending...

The blood of St. Januarius, a bishop martyred during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, has again liquified. When Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples removed the phial of the saint’s blood from...

Officials of Los Angeles’ Department of Building and Safety will soon decide whether a 24-foot-high cross that a Catholic laywoman has placed in her front lawn violates zoning regulations. “It is...

The Catholic Education Foundation has launched a $100 million fundraising campaign to provide tuition assistance to Catholic school students in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “Catholic schools have...

In a rare departure from his usual practice, Pope Benedict XVI did not hold a public audience this Wednesday, September 21. The regular weekly public audience was cancelled several weeks ago, to...

On September 21, Pope Benedict XVI imposed the pallium on Cardinal Angelo Scola, the newly appointed Archbishop of Milan. Ordinarily the Pope imposes the pallium on all new metropolitan...

Archbishop Giuseppe Versaldi of Alessandria, Italy, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI to become the new president of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs. Archbishop Versaldi replaces...

The US Catholic bishops are seeking to build up relationships with orthodox young Catholic theologians, hoping to encourage the “new evangelization” in college theology departments. Cardinal...

A Scottish bishop has said that the government does not deserve public trust because of its support for same-sex unions. “A government which favors and allows for same-sex marriage does wrong,”...

The Anglican Archbishop of Wales has urged the government to abandon its plan to inaugurate a “presumed consent” policy on organ donation, assuming that all people are organ donors unless they...

Leading German politicians have chastised colleagues who are organizing a boycott of the address to the Bundestag by Pope Benedict XVI. Interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said that the...

Msgr. Georg Ratzinger believes that his younger brother, Pope Benedict XVI, should retire if health problems make it impossible for him to fulfill his pastoral duties. "If it is not going well...

Archbishop Fouad Twal, the Latin-rite Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, has been in Washington this week to speak with American leaders about the proposal for UN recognition of a Palestinian...

In a remarkable letter to President Barack Obama, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York strongly criticized “recent actions taken by your Administration that both escalate the threat to marriage and...

The Diocese of Phoenix has announced that it will issue norms specifying the conditions under which Holy Communion may be distributed under both species. “The new norms will promote unity in the...

St. Francis University, a Franciscan college in central Pennsylvania, has withdrawn an invitation to pro-abortion writer Ellen Goodman to deliver a prestigious lecture. The decision followed...

A diocesan tribunal in Peoria is examining whether the healing of an infant Illinois boy is a miracle that can be attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen (1895-1979). James Fulton...

The Society of Jesus--the Church’s largest male religious institute, with 18,516 members--has issued a special report on ecology. “Our commitment to follow Jesus Christ in poverty, the...

L’Osservatore Romano has paid tribute to Pope Marcellus II, the Renaissance Pontiff in whose honor Giovanni de Palestrina composed his most famous polyphonic Mass. The Pope died after only 20 days...

Pope Benedict XVI gave a powerful defense of the natural-law tradition, and an equally powerful critique of moral relativism, in an address to lawmakers during the first day of his visit to...

As he began a 4-day visit to his native Germany on September 22, Pope Benedict XVI said simply that he had come “to meet people and speak about God.” In the days leading up to the Pope's arrival,...

In a question-and-answer session with journalists who accompanied him on his September 22 flight to Berlin, Pope Benedict XVI sought to ease tensions about confrontations with his German critics and...

Pope Benedict XVI called for “ethical renewal” in Italy, in a September 22 message to that country’s President Giorgio Napolitano. The Pope’s message was widely interpreted as a comment on the...

A case pending before the US Supreme Court could produce an important new precedent regarding the right of religious groups to set standards for their ministers and other employees. The...

The Archdiocese of Dublin is seeking new funds from parishes to help meet the costs of sex-abuse settlements, the Irish Catholic reports. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said that the funds from...

In an effort to avoid taxes on the property of a parish that has been formally closed, the Boston archdiocese is claiming that the building is still being used “for religious purposes”—by a group...

A landmark 10-part television series, entitled simply Catholicism debuts September 22 on some local PBS stations. The series, inspired by Kenneth Clark’s Civilization, is the work of Father...

A prelate in north-central Ghana is warning that Islamic extremists trained in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia before entering the African nation “are going to have a very negative effect for...

Religious leaders, including Catholic leaders, from democratic South Korea are visiting Communist North Korea, one of the world’s most repressive nations. “The visit of a delegation of religious...

Christian and Hindu flood victims are being denied aid by the Pakistani government and Muslim organizations, charges Father Mario Rodrigues, national director of the Pontifical Mission...

Two members of Opus Dei, the personal prelature founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (1902-75), are on trial in France on charges of involuntary labor. Catherine Tissier, who came into...

The Commission for Justice and Peace of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement to youth on social justice. “The Catholic Church shares all of humanity’s common quest...

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, compares Obama administration officials in the Departments of Justice and Health and Human...

“It was the error of the Reformation period that for the most part we could only see what divided us and we failed to grasp existentially what we have in common in terms of the great deposit of...

Pope Benedict XVI met separately with Jewish and Muslim leaders during the first 24 hours of his pastoral visit to Germany. The Pontiff met with representatives of the German Jewish community in...

Pope Benedict XVI met with victims of sexual abuse on Friday, September 23, during the 2nd day of his visit to Germany. Following what has become a pattern in his foreign travels, the Pope met...

The world’s major media outlets offered differing perspectives on the first days of Pope Benedict’s visit to Germany, with many reporters suggesting that the Pontiff had been successful in drawing...

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who head the US military ordinariate, has joined New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan in calling upon President Obama to “call off his administration’s attack on the...

Australia’s Senate has ruled that a priest who was identified by a lawmaker as a rapist has the right to respond to the accusation. Msgr. Ian Dempsey was named by Senator Nick Xenophon as one of...

A report from the UN Human Rights Council has condemned all laws restricting abortion. “Criminal laws penalizing and restricting induced abortion are the paradigmatic examples of impermissible...

Documents from the US State Department, made public by WikiLeaks, show that Cardinal Bernard Law has engaged in diplomatic work for the Vatican in Vietnam, seeking to improve relations between the...

A survey by the international development agency Plan International has found that many teenage Canadian boys believe that a woman’s primary role is to care for a family. About one-third of the...

With the Irish Catholic Church embroiled in a debate about the use of parish funds to pay sex-abuse settlements, one Catholic columnist has announced that he would not object if his donations are...

Most international-law experts agree that sex-abuse victims will fail in their effort to bring charges against the Vatican at the International Criminal Court. But John Allen of the National...

Five Bosnian nuns--Sisters Jula Ivanisevic, Berchmana Leidenix, Krizina Bojanc, Antonija Fabjan, and Bernadeta Banja--were beatitfied on September 24 in Sarajevo. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of...

A suicide bomber has attacked a Protestant church near Surakarta (also known as Solo), a city of over 500,000 in central Java. The bomber killed himself and injured 20 worshippers. Urging...

The bishops of Nigeria are lamenting the refusal of state governments to implement a new national minimum wage. “We believe that our nation has enough resources to ensure a fair wage to our...

Father Sebastiano D’Ambra, a missionary committed to Catholic-Muslim dialogue in the Philippines, is warning of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism on Mindanao, the nation’s second-largest island and...

Following a July 1 sexual assault of a minor, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement is removing immigrant children from three shelters run by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of...

Father William Grimm, a Maryknoll priest who serves as publisher of the UCA News service, is blasting the Vatican for what he calls the “Roman persecution” of the Church in Asia. Father Grimm...

By 43%-36% margin, Michael Sata has been elected president of Zambia, defeating incumbent Rupiah Banda. “This government will be governed on the Ten Commandments,” pledged Sata. “For the first...

Pope Benedict XVI repeatedly called for reform within the Catholic Church—as well as efforts to counteract a secularizing trend in society—during the final hours of his visit to Germany on September...

Cardinal Angelo Scola said that the Church must respond to a crisis in contemporary culture, during his installation as Archbishop of Milan. The modern world is experiencing a “convulsive...

Cardinal Joseph Zen has complained that new plans to introduce “national education classes” in Chinese schools amount to a program of “brainwashing” students. “Does national education mean...

Vatican officials have quickly dismissed a report that Pope Benedict XVI may plan to resign in 2012 when he reaches the age of 85. Italian journalist Antonio Socci of Libero had claimed that the...

Leaders of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) will meet in Albano, Italy, on October 7 and 8 to review a document that the Vatican has asked the breakaway traditionalist group to affirm. A...

Media coverage of Pope Benedict’s 4-day visit to Germany ranged from supportive to caustic, with the most favorable reports focused on the Pope’s addresses, while the most hostile were dominated by...

Amnesty International has issued a report saying that the mistreatment of Irish children in Church-run institutions was tantamount to torture. In an analysis of official reports on abuse of...

An Iranian Protestant pastor, sentenced to death in 2010 for apostasy, has refused to convert back to Islam during two court hearings. The Supreme Court of Iran has ruled that if Yousef Nadarkhani...

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has decried abortion and attacks on religious freedom in a statement...

In its recently-released July-December 2010 International Religious Freedom Report, the US State Department has designated eight nations as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because of...

Bolivia’s bishops have denounced the government of socialist President Evo Morales for its violent repression of a protest by Amazonian Indians. The Amazonian Indians oppose a government plan to...

The Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to lobby on behalf of anti-poverty programs by contacting...

The Catholic Health Association (CHA)--which broke with the nation’s bishops by supporting health-care legislation passed in March 2010--has renewed its criticism of a new mandate that requires...

In 2003, when Blessed John Paul II sent a special envoy to speak with President George W. Bush in a last-minute effort to avoid a war in Iraq, the American leader set aside the Pope’s personal...

A 10-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan has been charged with blasphemy because she misspelled a word in a reference to Mohammed in response to a test question. Faryal Bhatti was expelled from...

The Archdiocese of Adelaide, Australia has rejected charges that officials there tried to cover up sexual abuse at a local school for disabled children. The Australian ABC television network, in...

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that some birth-control pills may cause a 50% increase in the risk of blood clots for the women who take them. In reaction to the finding about...

The Russian Orthodox Church has signaled approval for the decision by President Dmitri Medvedev to nominate his prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to be his successor. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin,...

The president of the Italian bishops’ conference has caused a stir with a speech condemning the corruption spreading “like an octopus” in the nation’s political system, and saying that “the air must...

An Illinois judge has rejected an appeal by Catholic Charities for reconsideration of his decision allowing the state government to end contracts with the Catholic agencies for adoption and...

Iraq’s ambassador to the Vatican argues that Christians in the Middle East have good reason to be skeptical about the “Arab Spring” rebellions. The Christian minority in the region is righlty...

The Vatican has unveiled the schedule for an October 9 visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the towns of Lamezia Terme and Serra San Bruno, Italy. The Pope will fly from Rome to Lamezia Terme on Sunday...

A Canadian doctor who has been active in in vitro fertilization now believes that the procedure is "creating a population of sick babies." Dr. John Barrett told the Canadian Fertility and...

Anthony Esolen notes that in reading the documents of Vatican II, he is struck by commentary that is often at odds with the content of the documents themselves; the commentators suggest that the...

Hadley Arkes finds it chilling that in California, new regulations require a positive treatment of homosexuality in school curricula. That regulation, he points out, could be applied to private...

One of Nigeria’s leading prelates is urging the nation’s government not to negotiate with Boko Haram (“Western education is a sin”), the Islamist terrorist group active in northern Nigeria. “The...

In the wake of the bombing of a Protestant church in Java, two more bombs have been found outside churches in Indonesia. Rev. Andrew Yewangoe, president of the Indonesian Communion of Churches,...

Intellectual property is a right with a “social mortgage,” the Holy See’s chief envoy to UN institutions in Geneva said at a conference on intellectual property rights. “In this and in other...

Nearly a decade after a civil war in which 50,000 were killed, thousands were mutilated, and every church in the nation’s largest diocese was destroyed, Sierra Leone’s leading prelate has offered an...

As Malawi’s bishops meet amid civic unrest, “there is heavy circulation of regime spies” attempting to intimidate the bishops and “sniff what is being discussed,” according to a cleric present at...

Three law professors--Helen Alvaré, Gerard Bradley, and O. Carter Snead--write the Obama administration’s contraception and sterilization coverage mandate “threatens our nation’s healthcare by...

Pope Benedict XVI reported on his visit to Germany, describing it as a “great feast of the faith,” during his public audience on September 28. Speaking to about 20,000 people gathered in St....

Pope Benedict XVI has removed some canonical cases from the jurisdiction of the Congregation for Divine Worship, in an administrative move designed to give that Congregation's work a sharper focus...

An influential Vatican official spoke of the “harmonious and supportive collaboration” between the Holy See and the Italian government, at a September 28 ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of...

Public officials in Moscow, who recently demolished a hospice founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, are now threatening to raze another hospice operated by the Missionaries of Charity. City...

A subcommittee of the US House of Representatives has opened an investigation of the “institutional practices and policies” of Planned Parenthood. Rep. Cliff Stearns, who chairs the oversight...

A British judge has refused to approve an order to withdraw food and water from a brain-damaged woman, saying that she has some degree of consciousness and there is a possibility that her condition...

Roe Marie Belforti, the part-time town clerk in the little community of Ledyard, New York, says that she cannot in conscience sign a marriage license for a same-sex couple. A committed Christian,...

New legislation introduced into the Massachusetts legislature would abolish the statute of limitations for prosecuting sex crimes in which children are victims. Proponents of the change argue...

The Hong Kong diocese has announced that it will postpone the introduction of the new English translation of the Roman Missal for another year. The new translation will be unveiled in most...

The president of the evangelization office of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences has told the Fides news agency that fundamentalism is the greatest danger facing the Church in the...

An Iranian Protestant pastor, sentenced to death in 2010 for apostasy, refused to renounce his Christian faith and revert to Islam during a third and final court hearing this week on September 28....

Victims spoke of the horror of China’s one-child policy during a recent US congressional hearing held on the thirty-first anniversary of its implementation. “It is an insidious policy causing the...

In an interview with Vatican Radio, a Catholic Relief Services staff member in Kenya emphasized that the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa continues, even as the story fades from the news...

L’Osservatore Romano has paid tribute to Dag Hammarskjöld, the second secretary-general of the United Nations, on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. “What made Hammarskjöld withstand the...

In preparation for the upcoming synod of bishops, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences is focusing on the new evangelization during a four-day meeting in Tirana. Jean Luc Moens, who has...

Retired Archbishop Philip Hannan of New Orleans died on September 29 at the age of 98, after a long illness. Born in Washington, DC, Philip Hannan was ordained to the priesthood there in 1939....

Pope Benedict XVI has given his thanks to the staff at his summer residence, and local officials at Castel Gandolfo, as he prepares to return to the Vatican. The Pontiff offered his “deep...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his greetings to Rome’s Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, as the Jewish world celebrates the feasts of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. The Pope’s message included the...

The Vatican has released the full schedule for a November trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Benin, where he will release his apostolic exhortation concluding the work of the Second Synod for...

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen an unusual theme for the World Day for Social Communications in 2012: Silence. “Silence and Word: path of evangelization” is the full theme for next year’s Day for...

The Vatican Gendarmerie celebrated its patronal feast on September 29, the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, with a ceremony in front of the offices of the Vatican city-state...

Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai has roused concerns among French policy-makers, and signs of dissatisfaction in Washington, with public statements on the political crisis in Syria. During...

A group of 18 Catholic colleges and universities have joined in an appeal to the Obama administration to back away from a mandate that would require the institutions to provide contraceptive...

Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, the chief ecumenical-affairs officer of the Russian Orthodox Church, met with Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo on September 29. The Russian prelate, who was...

The founder and director of the Zenit news agency has resigned, disclosing that he was asked to step down after a series of disagreements with officials of the Legion of Christ, which owns the...

A desire for divorce is the cause of much of the tension between Muslims and Coptic Orthodox Christians in Egypt, according to a newly published article in the Catholic Near East Welfare...

Over 50 Christian churches have been shut down or demolished in Indonesia since January 2010, according to the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum. In most cases, the closing of churches has...

The bishops of Alabama have welcomed a federal judge’s ruling that struck down a provision of the state’s controversial new immigration law. “The court enjoined a key part of the statute that...

The Archdiocese of Seoul may launch a cause for the beatification of Thomas An Jung-geun, a Korean Catholic who assassinated the Japanese prime minister when Korea was under Japanese rule. The...

A gunman walked into a parish in Madrid as evening Mass was about to begin, shot and killed a pregnant woman, and then killed himself before the altar. Remarkably, the baby was saved as rescuers...

Ryan N.S. Topping, a theology professor at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, writes that the new generation of English-speaking theologians is largely orthodox. “The majority of young...

The Global Council of Indian Christians has presented a petition to the national civi-rights commission listing the continuing offenses against the Christian minority in the troubled state of...

The Vatican has given diocesan bishops greater latitude for allowing former priests to become actively involved in parish life, the Catholic Herald reports. Cardinal Ivan Dias, the prefect of the...

Anthony Esolen, the noted literature scholar and translator of Dante, explains why he finds the new English translation of the Mass such an improvement, in terms of its literary quality as well as...

In an address to the UN General Assembly, the Vatican’s “foreign minister,” Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, concentrated on three topics: humanitarian crises, religious persecution, and the worldwide...

The Vatican has disclosed the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for October 2011. The Pope’s general intention is: "That the terminally ill may be supported by their faith in God and the...