Catholic World News

Planned Parenthood of America’s net assets topped $1 billion in 2009-10, according to its newly released annual report. The largest abortion provider in the United States received $487.4 million in...

Echoing the theme of Pope Benedict’s message for the 45th World Day of Peace, the director of the Holy See Press Office devoted his weekly editorial to the education of youth in justice and...

Police in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have arrested two men on charges of kidnapping and sacrificing a seven-year-old girl to indigenous gods in October. Desiring to ensure a good...

Pope Benedict XVI has formally established an ordinariate in the US for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church, and named a former Episcopalian bishop to lead it. The new ecclesiastical...

In an odd reversal of roles, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is fighting against court-ordered disclosure of the group’s internal documents. David Clohessy, the director...

As he celebrated Mass in the Vatican basilica on January 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, Pope Benedict XVI formally released his message for the 45th World Day of Peace, entitled "Educating...

Pope Benedict XVI closed out the year 2011 by exhorting the faithful to trust in God, and overcome worries about passing problems. On December 31, the Holy Father presided at a Vespers service...

The feast of the Holy Family should be recognized as “a continuation of Christmas,” Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to Spanish families. The papal message, addressed to Cardinal Antonio Maria...

Ten years after the release of a sensational Boston Globe report that exposed the tolerance of sexual abuse within the Boston archdiocese, Cardinal Sean O’Malley said that his efforts to revive the...

Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput plans to sell the mansion that has been home to the city’s archbishops since 1935. Since his installation in Philadelphia in September, Archbishop Chaput...

A papal representative has ended his visit to the Catholic Pontifical University of Peru, finding the school's leaders unwilling to accept any direction from the Vatican. Cardinal Peter Erdo of...

China’s government has finally admitted the arrest of a Christian human-rights activist who was taken into custody in February 2009. The Beijing regime revealed that Gao Zhisheng is being held in...

Although 2 men have been arrested for the October 17 murder of Father Fausto Tentorio in the Mindanao province of the Philippines, the people ultimately responsible for his death remain...

Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff, Wales, has issued a strong objection to a government proposal that would assume that everyone consented to being an organ donor. Archbishop Stack did not...

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has urged the people of Ireland to avoid a “cynical caricature of faith” in discussions of the role that religion should play in public life. Acknowledging...

A federal judge in Hawaii has refused to grant a temporary restraining order to Christian groups seeking to block a law that allows same-sex couples to register in civil unions. The church groups...

Jerzy Kluger, a childhood friend of Blessed John Paul II, died in Rome on December 31 at he age of 90. The son of a Jewish leader in Wadowice, Poland, Kluger played with his young neighbor Karol...

The episcopal conferences of Mexico and Cuba have announced the itinerary for Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to their nations. Pope Benedict will arrive in León, a central Mexican city of 1.4...

Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja--Nigeria’s capital--is urging the nation’s Christians to ignore an ultimatum, reportedly issued the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram, to leave the...

Shouting “Allahu akbar” [Allah is greater], residents of Assuit, a southern Egyptian city, burned Christians’ homes after images deemed insulting to Muhammad appeared on a local Christian teenager’s...

Three incidents of anti-Christian violence have taken place during the Christmas season in Mangalore, a city of nearly 500,000 in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. On Christmas Day, 15...

One of Africa’s leading cardinals has assessed the continent’s strong and weak points during 2011. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa--appointed by Pope Benedict as one of the three...

Cardinal Seán Brady of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, urged parents to take time to spend time with and listen to their children as he lamented the increase of suicide. “The ability to...

The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick deserves greater attention, Pope Benedict XVI has said. In his message for the World Day of the Sick, the Pope reflects on the “sacraments of healing,”...

A Catholic priest in Nevada who reportedly stole $650,000 from the Church has asked a judge for leniency in sentencing, explaining that he was addicted to gambling. Father Kevin McAuliffe entered...

Political leaders in the Netherlands are pressing for the resignation of Catholic bishops after the release of a report showing widespread sexual abuse within the Church. The 1,100-page report,...

A shortage of Catholic chaplains has curtailed access to the sacraments for American troops deployed overseas. The number of Catholic chaplains in active-duty military service has dropped almost...

A decade after publishing a shocking report on the cover-up of sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese, the Boston Globe has published an interview with Cardinal Sean O'Malley about the aftermath of...

More than 2.5 million people saw Pope Benedict XVI at papal audiences and liturgical ceremonies during the past year, the Vatican has disclosed. The statistics furnished by the Prefecture of the...

Avvenire, the daily newspaper owned by the Italian bishops’ conference, faces severe financial pressure because of a cut in government subsidies to the newspaper industry. Avvenire is one of 100...

A Catholic university in New York circulated information about a job opening at an organization promoting legal abortion, the Cardinal Newman Society has learned. Fordham University Law School’s...

The new Hungarian constitution, which protects life from the moment of conception and bans same-sex marriage, will also have an impact upon religious freedom. Writing in The New York Times, Kim...

The bishops of Taiwan issued a pastoral letter on January 1 to help the nation’s Catholics prepare for the upcoming Year of Faith. The bishops exhorted priests to offer Mass with care and urged...

In an interview with the National Catholic Register Bishop John D’Arcy--a former Boston auxiliary bishop (1975-85) who served as Bishop of Fort Wayne - South Bend from 1985 to 2009--examined the...

A new Gallup poll has found that Catholic Republicans are no more likely than other Republicans to support the two Catholic presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. In December...

Speaking at a New Year’s Day press conference, one of the Caribbean’s leading prelates called for peaceful May elections and lamented the rise of the drug culture in the Dominican Republic. “The...

Father David Carraro, a young missionary priest, discussed his recent experience as a missionary in Touggert, a city of over 100,000 built beside an oasis in the Sahara Desert. “There are no...

Bishop Gabino Zavala, an auxiliary of the Los Angeles archdiocese, has resigned, after revealing that he is the father of two teenage children. Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles announced the...

The Christmas season is a time of joy for all Christians, Pope Benedict XVI told his weekly public audience on January 4. The Holy Father closed his audience by reminding the faithful of their duty...

A Canadian bishop who pleaded guilty to child-pornography charges has been sentenced to a 15-month prison term. Because Bishop Raymond Lahey had already been in prison since last May, and the...

Catholics may differ on the wisdom of a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Detroit, saying that RealCatholicTV is not authorized to identify itself as a "Catholic" institution. But there is no...

The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has ordered all Christians to leave northern Nigeria, setting a 3-day deadline. The January 2 statement from Boko Haram threatened further acts of violence...

Following demands by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram that Christians leave northern Nigeria, Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, the nation’s capital, is emphasizing that “Nigeria cannot be...

Twenty years after a peace agreement ended the conflict between El Salvador’s government and leftist rebels, the nation’s leading prelate expressed gratitude that the peace has endured but also...

The cardinal archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City is urging Catholics who knew Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002) to testify to his holiness when a Vatican delegation for his...

After filing a religious-discrimination lawsuit in federal court, Omayma Arafa, a Muslim employee who was fired from her part-time parish job in 2009, and the Diocese of Allentown have agreed to a...

Less than a month after a Minnesota attorney filed a court document laden with anti-Catholic slurs, the judge who bore the brunt of her comments has ordered her arrested. Referring to Judge Nancy...

The National Catholic Register examines how four dioceses--Tucson, Davenport (Iowa), Spokane, and Portland (Oregon)--have fared in the years following their decision to file for bankruptcy. “When...

The office of Catholic Charities in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has decided to forego government grants, in order to maintain its independence and protect its ability to deliver services fully in keeping with...

The bishops of the US are currently making their ad limina visits to Rome, in groups arranged by metropolitan province. John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter lists the topics that the bishops...

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed a new head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, one of the Vatican’s three top tribunals. Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, who has been serving as secretary for the...

The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has prepared a set of recommendations for pastoral work during the coming Year of Faith. The new document, prepared by the CDF with...

Gunmen stormed a Protestant church in Gombe, a city of 280,000 in northeastern Nigeria, killing six. “I was leading the congregation in prayers,” said John Jauro, the pastor. “Our eyes were...

In a New Year’s Day pastoral letter, an English bishop asked the faithful to “join me in grappling with the two-fold task of planning how our diocese’s parishes and schools adapt” to new...

Caritas Korea, the Church’s charitable agency in South Korea, is urging the international community not to forget the dire humanitarian needs of North Korea. According to the World Food Programme,...

Gay activists in Connecticut and elsewhere are criticizing the Archdiocese of Hartford for its decision to start a chapter of Courage, an apostolate that helps those with same-sex attractions to...

In an interview with Catholic World Report, Dave Pierre, the author of Catholic Priests Falsely Accused, offers evidence for a media double standard surrounding coverage of abuse cases and states...

A woman assaulted by a Boston priest when she was 15 has described how the words of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and the compassion of Pope Benedict during a 2008 meeting in Washington have strengthened...

Pope Benedict XVI has named 22 new cardinals, including two prelates from the US. At his Angelus audience on January 6, the Pope announced that a consistory will be held on February 18, and...

A Catholic bishop should be “a man of restless heart,” Pope Benedict XVI said on January 6, as he ordained two priests as archbishops. As the Vatican observed the feast of the Epiphany, the...

The inexplicable healing of a paralyzed priest in Baltimore could, if confirmed by the Vatican, provide the miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos. Father John...

The New York Times features an op-ed column on St. Joan of Arc, remarking on the enduring interest in a saint whose life story defies ordinary categorization. Although author Kathryn Harrison...

Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley once again spoke at length on the impact of the sex-abuse scandal in an interview with John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter. Cardinal O’Malley’s interview...

Commenting on Pope Benedict’s selection of 22 new members for the College of Cardinals, John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter notes that the Pontiff has increased the strength—already...

The Philadelphia archdiocese plans to close 48 Catholic schools, as part of a sweeping program designed to restore economic stability to an endangered parochial-school system. Four Catholic high...

Terrified that the Islamist group Boko Haram will continue its recent spate of attacks on Christians, some indigenous Christians in the northern part of the nation are preparing to heed the...

Three million Filipinos took part in an annual procession in Manila in honor of the Black Nazarene--a 17th-century statue of Christ--despite a warning by the nation’s president that terrorists might...

Bishops from Europe and the United States who are visiting Gaza are finding a small Catholic community trapped between an Israeli blockade and an overwhelmingly Muslim culture. Gaza’s sole parish,...

In his weekly opinion column, the director of the Vatican press office explained why Pope Benedict will travel to Mexico and Cuba in March. “There’s not much need to call attention to the Cuban...

The first Norwegian translation of the Bible in three decades has remain on top of the bestseller list almost every week since its publication in October. The translation, intended to “read like a...

Father Marco Aurelio Lorenzo, a priest in western Honduras, alleges that police tortured him and his two brothers as they were resting on the side of the road on a visit to their parents. “They...

Pope Benedict XVI baptized 16 infants on January 8, the feast of the Baptism of Christ, and reminded their parents and godparents of their duties to promote the children’s faith. In his homily...

A lawyer for Asia Bibi, the Pakistani woman who faces a death sentence after a highly questionable blasphemy conviction, faces death threats from Islamic militants. Human-rights activists are...

Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George has issued a public apology for a statement in which he compared gay-rights activists to the Ku Klux Klan. “I am truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have...

Archbishop Martin Currie of St. John’s, Newfoundland, has written to the Catholics of the region, revealing that Bishop Raymond Lahey is seeking to be laicized after his conviction on...

Despite the threats of violence by Boko Haram, Christians will not leave northern Nigeria, vows Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogie of Lagos. “The Nigerian Church is strong and vital, it will not...

Five former US ambassadors to the Vatican have joined in a public statement of endorsement for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The former ambassadors are Thomas Melady, Raymond...

Commenting on vicious personal attacks that have been loosed at presidential candidate Rick Santorum, columnist Mark Steyn, remarks: “The Left's much-vaunted powers of empathy routinely fail when...

In another embarrassing public-relations gaffe, when Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals, the Vatican released short biographies of the prelates that had been taken verbatim from Wikipedia...

Former Anglican Bishop Robert Mercer has been received into the Catholic Church in England’s new Anglican ordinariate. Born in Zimbabwe, Robert Mercer was Anglican Bishop of Matabeleland from...

In his annual speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps—the papal “State of the World” address—Pope Benedict XVI laid heavy emphasis on the continuing economic crisis, the uncertainties facing young...

In a report on diocesan finances, Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland said the sale of closed parishes has produced over $19 million in income, putting the diocese on a stronger financial footing....

The Islamist terrorist organization that is targeting Christians in northern Nigeria has led Africa’s most populous nation to the brink of a situation more dangerous than the Nigeria Civil War...

Both Israeli and Palestinian diplomats are praising Pope Benedict’s January 9 address to the diplomatic corps. During the address, the Pope expressed satisfaction that Israeli and Palestinian...

In Laos--a Communist nation where 67% of the population is Buddhist, and only 2% are Christian--authorities in some villages of Savannakhet Province, which is located in the south-central part of...

Stating that “the Holy See is in the world to recall the reality of Christ, who transformed human destiny from corruption to immortality,” the editor of L‘Osservatore Romano has defended Pope...

Writing for Inside the Vatican, William Doino, Jr., documents Venerable Pius XII’s efforts to assist Jewish refugees detained on the island of Rhodes. “And now, my Jewish friend, go with the...

The bishops of Illinois have called upon Catholics to “provide hope and support to immigrant families and to advocate for comprehensive reform of our nation’s immigration laws.” “The fact that...

The Vatican has announced a series of changes in the ritual that will be carried out when Pope Benedict XVI raises 22 prelates to the College of Cardinals on February 18. At the February...

The Vatican has received the final report from an apostolic visitation of women’s religious orders in the US. Mother Mary Clare Millea, who was assigned by the Vatican to carry out the apostolic...

An eye-opening study by Nicholas Eberstadt shows that sex-selection abortion has begun to tip the demographic balance against girls—not just in India and China, where the practice is already...

The Vatican Museums set a record in 2011, exceeding 5 million visitors for the first time. The total number of visitors at the Vatican Museums last year was 5,078,004, reported director Antonio...

The worldwide phenomenon of migration “opens unique opportunities for evangelization,” writes the president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants in an article that appears in an Italian...

The head of a famous Orthodox monastery in Greece has been arrested, in a complex case that reflects a contest for power between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Patriarchate of...

Clarence Pope, a former Episcopalian bishop who converted to Catholicism, died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 9 at the age of 81 after a long illness. After retiring in 1994 from his post...

Commenting on Pope Benedict’s January 9 address to the diplomatic corps, Egypt’s ambassador to the Holy See traced Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt to the regime of Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the...

Over three years after an anti-Christian pogrom in the eastern Indian province of Orissa left dozens dead and 50,000 homeless, two Christian leaders have been arrested. Police arrested Baliguda...

Four organizations, including the National Education Association’s Health Information Network, have published “National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, Grades K-12,” a...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services resettled 27% of the 57,000 refugees who came to the United States in 2011. The six leading countries of origin of...

A recently-formed Ukrainian religious community has attracted two dozen young vocations, according to the community’s founder. “After years of oppression, the people are glad to be able to live...

A federal appellate court has lifted an injunction that prevented the implementation of Texas’s sonogram law. Under the legislation, passed in 2011, abortionists are required to offer mothers the...

A terrorist attack was thwarted by police and private security guards outside the residence of the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Kirkuk, Iraq, on January 11. The armed men assaulted the...

“The Eucharist is the supreme prayer of Jesus and of his Church,” Pope Benedict XVI told the 4,000 people who attended his weekly general audience in the Paul VI auditorium on January 11....

The Czech government has finalized an agreement that will result in compensation of about $2.5 billion to the Catholic Church for properties that had been confiscated by the nation’s Communist...

Students at the Irish national seminary at Maynooth will be separated from other students on the sprawling campus, in a move to preserve the distinctive quality of the seminary as a training ground...

Catholics in the Mindanao province of the Philippines remain suspicious that powerful political figures were involved in the October 17 killing of Father Fausto Tentorio. Police have charged one...

Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, the apostolic nuncio in Brazil, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI to become the secretary of the Congregation for Bishops. Archbishop Baldisseri replaces...

The Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople has issued a statement expressing concern about the arrest of a prominent monk from a monastery on Mount Athos, but decried the intervention of the...

Pope Benedict XVI, who routinely greets special guests after each public audience on Wednesday, was introduced to a very unusual visitor on January 11: a Cuban crocodile. The crocodile, a member...

Shortly after Archbishop José Gomez was installed in the Los Angeles last March, rumors began to circulate that an auxiliary of the archdiocese, Bishop Gabino Zavala, was facing special scrutiny in...

In a landmark January 11 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that religious bodies should set their own standards for hiring ministers, free from government interference. The unanimous decision...

Bishop Gerhard Müller of Regensburg, Germany, met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience on January 11, amid rumors that he may be named the next prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine...

Naguib Sawiris, a prominent Egyptian business leader and a Coptic Christian, will face trial for insulting religion because he tweeted images of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse wearing Muslim garb....

Gunmen on the outskirts of Potiskum, a northeastern Nigerian city of 200,000, have killed four Christians who were fleeing the area in the wake of previous attacks. The Islamist terrorist group Boko...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has welcomed the Supreme Court’s unanimous landmark decision in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment...

Peter Jacob, director of the Pakistani bishops’ justice and peace commission, has welcomed Pope Benedict’s tribute to Shabaz Bhatti in his recent address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the...

A quarter million Somalis are at risk of famine, while an additional four million live in a situation of food insecurity, according to a report prepared by Caritas Somalia, the Church’s charitable...

Describing the Archdiocese of Miami as “almost like another archdiocese of Cuba’’ because of the number of Cuban-Americans there, Archbishop Thomas Wenski says that “several hundred” Miami Catholics...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has established an appeals process for reconsideration of decisions on closing schools. Two committees will hear appeals: one for the 4 high schools slated for...

Belgian Catholic Church leaders have announced that priests who are guilty of abusing children will be required to pay damages to their victims. While encouraging victims to seek judgments from...

In an annual address to local officials of Rome and the surrounding Lazio region, Pope Benedict XVI said that government policies should reflect and promote a new, stronger sense of...

Two years after a devastating earthquake, Haiti is still slowly recovering, reports the apostolic nuncio in that country, Archbishop Bernardino Auza. Speaking with the Fides news service, the...

The Venezuelan bishops’ conference has elected a new president, Archbishop Diego Rafael Padron Sanchez of Cumana, who is regarded as a friend of the country’s controversial President Hugo...

Church tribunals in the US have seen a sharp rise in the number of canonical suits brought by American Catholics. Although exact figures are not available, because canonical courts keep their...

Four Catholic bishops are among the 39 American religious leaders who have joined in a public statement cautioning against the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. “Altering the civil...

Archbishop Charles Brown, the newly installed apostolic nuncio in Dublin, reflects on the challenges facing him in a conversation with the Irish Times. The American-born archbishop reminds his...

Without warning, the government of the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab has demolished a Catholic nursing home, girls’ school, convent, and chapel, leading to the destruction of Bibles,...

A New Jersey administrative law judge has ruled that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association--a ministry associated with the United Methodist Church--violated the state’s anti-discrimination law...

Representing their episcopal conferences, nine bishops from the US, Canada, and Europe have called for peace in the Holy Land. “While the faith we see in the Christians of the Holy Land is an...

Father John Bauer, pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, has warned that the proposed construction of a professional football stadium 300 feet from the basilica’s property line could...

On January 15, the Church will observe the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, a commemoration instituted by St. Pius X. Issued in September, Pope Benedict’s message for the day is entitled...

The New York Times has profiled The Heights School, a Washington-area school affiliated with Opus Dei. “Conservative Catholics are drawn to The Heights for its single-sex community, in which the...

The Vatican newspaper has called attention to a damaging rise in food prices worldwide during 2011. The price of food soared by 35% during the year, despite a significant decrease in December,...

A German priest has pleaded guilty to 280 charges of molesting young boys. The priest, who has not been identified in public, has been suspended from ministry and faces further ecclesiastical...

The Catholics bishops of the Democratic Republic of Congo have charged that November presidential elections in that country were marred by “treachery, lies, and terror,” and demanded that election...

Austin Ruse, the president of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, explains why, and how, he has worked effectively with representatives of Islamic nations during political battles at the...

Anthony Esolen explains why he loves the paintings of Norman Rockwell, and the vision of a way of life that they...

On January 13, Pope Benedict XVI held his annual private audience with members of the Italian police force that serves at the Vatican. "Defending public order, especially in an area so heavily...

Tourists and pilgrims visiting Rome on January 17 should be prepared for an unusual sight in St. Peter's Square. The Italian Association of Livestock Farmers will be holding a show of farm animals:...

“Defending human rights is not just an ethical commitment: it also responds to our security needs,” wrote Italy’s foreign minister in an article that appeared in Avvenire, the Italian daily owned by...

Bishop Edward Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, speaks about his decision to decline government funding for the local office of Catholic Charities, in a discussion with the National Catholic...

On January 20, Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to hold an audience with members of the Neocatechumenal Way. Sandro Magister of L'Espresso writes that the date could bring a final resolution of...

An Italian bishop has recommended that the government agree to register the civil unions of same-sex couples, but stop short of recognizing these unions as marriages. "When two people, even if...

Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania has released a public statement rebuking the Jesuit-administered University of Scranton for inviting a pro-abortion activist to speak. Bishop...

The chief political spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church has suggested the creation of Christian political parties, prompting concerns among observers who note that the creation of political...

A decision by Israel’s highest court, preventing Palestinians from gaining Israeli citizenship by marrying an Israeli spouse, has drawn criticism from human-rights activists. The court’s ruling,...

The deputy grand mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, a largely Muslim Indian state, has announced that a sharia court has convicted an 80-year-old Dutch missionary priest and a Protestant pastor of...

The director of the Holy See Press Office has used his weekly message to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians. “The recent annual report of the international evangelical...

Exhorting Venezuelans not to look upon one another as enemies, the bishops of Venezuela are calling for a year of national reconciliation ahead of October elections. The bishops also lamented the...

One of the agnostics who took part in the day of reflection, dialogue, and prayer in Assisi in October suggested that the Vatican recognize that “non-believers are usually somewhere between the two...

An ecumenical association that offers recordings of the New Testament in over 600 languages presented its Latin recording of the New Testament to Pope Benedict during his January 11 general...

The Vatican has announced Pope Benedict’s general and mission prayer intentions for 2013. The practice of proposing specific monthly prayer intentions to the faithful arose in response to the...

Pope Benedict XVI met on January 14 with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who was introduced at the Vatican for the first time since he took office in November 2011. A brief Vatican statement...

Protesters trying to set up tents in St. Peter's Square clashed with police at the Vatican on January 14. About 50 protesters were eventually removed by police as they tried to set up tents in...

The judicial tribunal of the Vatican city-state opened its 83rd term on January 14, with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State. Nicola Picadi, the...

In a highly unusual move, the outgoing Bishop of El Paso, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against one of his priests, charging him with misuse of parish funds. Bishop Armando Ochoa charged that Father...

A prominent Anglican cleric is weighing a lawsuit against the Church of England, claiming that he has been unfairly been denied appointment as a bishop because he is homosexual. Dr. Jeffrey John,...

Belgian police raided the offices of three Catholic dioceses on January 16, as they continued their aggressive investigation of sex-abuse complaints. Officials in the dioceses of Brussels,...

While millions of people are involved in the worldwide tide of migration, Pope Benedict XVI told his Sunday audience on January 15 that “they are not just numbers!” “They are men, women, and...

The former director of the US State Department’s office for religious freedom spoke about the challenges to religious liberty in the US itself, as well as the foreign-policy initiatives of the Obama...

The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano criticized the credit-rating agency Standard and Poor’s for its decision to downgrade the bonds of nine European countries last week. The decision from...

At least 161 people were indicted last year under Pakistan’s blasphemy law, and 9 people accused of blasphemy were lynched. A Muslim legal scholar estimates that 95% of all blasphemy charges are...

Vatican-watching journalist Andrea Tornielli reports that Pope Benedict XVI will wait until April before naming a successor to Cardinal William Levada, who will step down as prefect of the...

Pope Benedict XVI could plan a personal meeting with the ailing Fidel Castro during his visit to Cuba in March, Vatican Insider reports. Although a face-to-face meeting is not listed on the...

The Irish government has set up an “expert group” to study the nation’s abortion law, in response to a 2010 decision by the European Court of Human Rights that the Irish law fails to provide...

The Irish public overwhelmingly opposes the government’s move to close down its embassy at the Holy See, the Irish Examiner reports. In the days after foreign minister Eamon Gilmore announced the...

The year 2011 was the worst on record for the persecution of Christians in India, according to a report released by the Catholic Secular Forum, a lay organization. The report documents three to five...

Yousef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Protestant pastor sentenced to death for apostasy, has again rejected an opportunity to be released from prison by reverting to Islam. Nadarkhani, whose execution was...

Describing Pakistan as a “democratic country [whose] legal structure resembles a theocratic state,” the justice and peace commission of the Pakistani bishops’ conference is urging the Federal...

Suspecting collusion between the federal government and an abortion clinic, a federal judge has dismissed Attorney General Eric Holder’s prosecution of Mary Susan Pine, a Florida sidewalk counselor,...

A former assistant archivist has filed a sexual harassment suit against the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph, alleging that he was dismissed because he complained about an atmosphere of...

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has reportedly submitted a second response to the Doctrinal Preamble that was drafted for the group’s affirmation. Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli of La...

Writing in the National Post, Charles Lewis observes that the Canadian government moved swiftly to provide for legal divorce of homosexuals who had come to Canada to marry. But while responding...

The Vatican press office has issued an alert that the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will begin on Wednesday, January 18. The annual observance traditionally spans from January 18 to 25. The...

A Christian television station broadcasting in the Arabic world has aired a statement by a man identified as a Kuwaiti prince, proclaiming his faith in Jesus Christ. The videotaped statement...

Two midwives in Scotland have brought legal action against the country’s largest health board, charging that they have been coerced to cooperate in abortions, in violation of their conscience...

A Wall Street Journal editorial on January 9 derided presidential candidate Rich Santorum for his suggestion that the federal government should triple the tax credit for children. “This is social...

Arguing that China should release the Catholic bishops and priests who are now imprisoned, the secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization said that the move should be “good for China’s...

A Catholic bishop in northern Nigeria has urged the faithful to remain confident, and to pray for the future of their country, as violent attacks by the Boko Haram movement shake the region. In a...

Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington have bestowed the “Keep the Dream Alive” Award on Anthony Williams, who served as mayor of Washington from 1999 to...

Italian Church leaders engaged in a Day for Dialogue between Catholics and Jews on January 17, in an effort promoted by the Italian bishops’ conference. The Italian bishops and the Italian...

The headline on a National Public Radio report asked a leading question: "Catholic Church Still Hiding Sexual Predators?" But the report itself provided absolutely no evidence that the question...

Legal scholar Hadley Arkes believes that the groundwork for a powerful challenge to legal abortion has been laid, in a judicial decision affirming the "informed consent" law in Texas. Judge Edith...

Girl Scout Cookies may be tasty, and earnest little girls who sell them door-to-door may be hard to resist, but a portion of the profits are used to promote a left-wing agenda, reports Cathy Cleaver...

Kabiru Sokoto, the man suspected of planning the Christmas Day attack on a Nigerian parish that left 38 dead, was arrested in the governor’s compound in Borno State, which is located in northeastern...

A Massachusetts appeals court has struck down a lower court decision ordering a pregnant 32-year-old schizophrenic woman to undergo an abortion and sterilization. Judge Christina Harms of the...

Two thousand Pakistani Christians, including Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Shah of Lahore, priests, and Protestant leaders, protested the Punjabi government’s decision to confiscate Church land and...

Amid Solemn Evensong, a Eucharistic procession, and Benediction, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham commemorated the first anniversary of its establishment on January 15. The...

Writing in L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, discusses some of the highlights of Pope Benedict’s thought on ecumenism....

In 1908, Rev. Paul Wattson, then an Anglican religious in Graymoor, New York, began a Church Unity Octave with the support of Anglican and Catholic prelates, including Cardinal William O’Connell of...

The Catholic bishops of Croatia are urging the faithful to vote in favor of entry into the European Union. “We invite all Croatian citizens and faithful to push all their fears and resignations...

The kidnapping of two Catholic priests--a crime with distinct political overtones--has increased fears for the Christian religious minority in Sudan. Father Joseph Makwey and Father Sylvester...

The Catholic chaplain on the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia rushed to protect the Blessed Sacrament when the ship ran onto a reef. Father Rafeali Mallena consumed the Blessed Sacrament...

William Oddie of London's Catholic Herald questions whether the Catholic bishops of England are deliberately discouraging the growth of the new Anglican-Catholic ordinariate. This is, Oddie notes, a...

During his regular weekly public audience on January 18, Pope Benedict XVI centered his remarks on the opening of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Pope placed the annual week of...

At the conclusion of his regular weekly public audience on January 18, Pope Benedict XVI reminded a group of lawyers that they have a moral obligation to serve the truth. As usual, as he closed...

Reflecting on debates among Republican presidential candidates, and the questions posed by media personalities during those debates, Anthony Esolen remarks that American voters are expected to make...

With Catholic Church leaders in Minnesota enthusiastically supporting a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would safeguard marriage, Archbishop John Nienstedt has warned his priests...

An influential Swedish politician has asked the country’s government to crack down on home-schooling families. Lotta Edholm of the Liberal Party wrote in the Aftonbladet newspaper that the...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, who assumed office in November, said that the Church’s Magisterium and the Christian roots of Europe are indispensable in facing the continent’s economic...

A year after “Arab Spring” protests led to the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled Tunisia since 1989, the nation’s leading prelate warns of the prospect of more protests in upcoming...

The bishops of Colorado are urging Catholics to contact their state legislators in opposition to civil unions legislation. “It does little good to protect marriage in our state constitution, on...

L’Osservatore Romano reports that the first three volumes of the Catechism (presumably the first three parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church) have been translated into Hebrew. Father David...

Addressing a Catholic conference on immigration, Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City urged Catholics to advocate for immigration reform at the federal level. “Different laws, particularly...

Auxiliary Bishop Dominick Lagonegro of New York has announced that Father Casmir Mung’aho, a Tanzanian-born archdiocesan priest ordained in 2011, has been suspended for fathering a child who was...

Police in the Philippines are investigating the death of an Australian missionary priest whose body was found floating in a river. Father Douglas Rowe had been inspecting a plot of land for his...

Pope Benedict XVI issued a solemn warning about the erosion of religious freedom in the United States, in a January 19 address to visiting American bishops. The Holy Father told the American...

Two Catholic priests who were kidnapped on January 15 in Sudan are alive and well, and the Archdiocese of Khartoum is negotiating for their release. Church sources in Sudan have confirmed that...

A moderately busy abortionist can bring in revenues of nearly $500,000 a year, a few calculations show. The same arithmetic--based on average pricing--suggests that Planned Parenthood generates...

An Orthodox prelate who was suspended from ministry in 2010 will have to stand trial on sex-abuse charges. Following a court hearing in Winnipeg determined that the evidence against Archbishop...

Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, has reported that telephone text messages currently circulating in the north of the country warn “of plans by some Muslim groups to massacre Christians...

Italian politicians are pressing for the Catholic Church to begin paying property on some real-estate properties. The Church already pays taxes on purely commercial investment properties, but...

Pope Benedict XVI met on January 19 with an ecumenical delegation from Finland, and spoke about the need for a common Christian witness in a secularized world. A shared Christian apostolate, the...

An Irish group is effectively putting pressure on the country’s legislators to reopen the Irish embassy at the Holy See. The group, Ireland Stand Up, drew one-third of the members of the Irish...

An Irish Labor Party leader told the Irish Catholic that “religious ethos has no place in the educational system of a modern republic.” The claim by Aodhan O Riordain matched efforts by the Labor...

Nearly a year after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s Christians are living under an atmosphere of “constant fear and repression,” according to Michael Mounir, a Coptic political...

A study conducted by the World Health Organization and the Guttmacher Institute has found that 43.8 million surgical abortions take place annually, with the highest abortion rates occurring in...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has welcomed Pope Benedict’s comments on religious liberty in his January 19 address to a group of US bishops. “The bishops are thankful and...

A South African prelate is urging Catholics to oppose the Protection of State Information Bill, which is under consideration in the nation’s legislature. “The Bill comprehensively protects the...

Writing for The American Spectator, George Neumayr examines the willingness of some to celebrate abortion as a laudable act. “You don’t have to argue that abortion stops a beating heart,” says...

The latest round of dialogue between the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Synagogues examined the presentation of Judaism in Catholic religious education...

A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Egypt has argued against the imposition of the death penalty for former President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak, who was deposed last year, is being held...

At a recent closed-door meeting, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences addressed the problem of sexual abuse and the response of the Catholic hierarchy, acknowledging “a considerably serious...

Brushing aside concerns about religious liberty and respect for individual consciences, the Obama administration has announced that Church-related institutions will be required to provide...

“Priestly life requires an ever-increasing thirst for sanctity, a clear sensus Ecclesiae and an openness to fraternity without exclusion or bias,” Pope Benedict XVI said on January 20 at a meeting...

Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Lebanon in September, according to the Roman news agency I Media. The Vatican has not confirmed the report. Vatican officials reportedly have indicated that the...

Leaders of an organization representing sex-abuse victims claim that their group is fighting for its life, in the face of a court order requiring disclosure of its internal documents. SNAP—the...

The Vatican has given formal approval to the special celebrations that characterize the work of the Neocatechumenal Way. At a January 20 meeting with over 7,000 members of the Neocatechumenal...

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, President Barack Obama issued a brief statement affirming his support of the 1973 decision. “As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember...

Bishops in Ecuador are expressing concerns about the implications of a draft law on religious freedom and religious equality. The law raises questions about whether priests and religious could...

The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging Catholics to “let your elected leaders know that you want religious liberty and rights of conscience restored and that you...

The kidnappers of two Sudanese priests are demanding the exorbitant ransom of 500,000 Sudanese pounds ($185,000) for their release. Per capita GDP in the north African nation stands at only...

Commenting on Pope Benedict’s address to US bishops on religious liberty, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washingotn lamented the push towards a “monolithic secularism” in the United States. While...

Quoting recent remarks by Pope Benedict, the director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his weekly editorial to the relationship between ecumenism and the new evangelization. “The new...

Citing a recent economic study, an op-ed piece published in L’Osservatore Romano urges governments not to cut public funding for opera companies. Giuseppe Pennisi, president of the...

One of the nation’s largest health-care systems has severed its formal ties with the Catholic Church. Catholic Healthcare West, a corporation that oversees 40 hospitals in California, Arizona,...

A dissident Austrian priest hopes to encourage an international movement of clerics who defy the authority of the Church. Msgr. Helmut Schüller, the head of the Austrian Priests’ Initiative, said...

Christian leaders in Wales have united in a call for the government to reconsider plans to presume that all individuals have consented to be organ donors unless they have specifically stated...

A sweeping victory by Islamic groups in Egyptian legislative elections has caused concern—but not surprise—among the country’s minority Christians. “The victory of Islamist parties scares...

All but 4 of Bulgaria’s 15 Orthodox bishops cooperated with the country’s secret police under the Communist regime, newly released archive documents show. Patriarch Maxim, the 97-year-old prelate...

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has cooperated with plaintiffs’ lawyers in publicity campaigns against the Catholic Church, charges The Media Report. In a Missouri case,...

The protection of human freedoms, including religious freedom, is an essential factor in European security, argues the president of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe...

In an attack obviously aimed at two Republican presidential candidates, a group of liberal Catholic scholars has charged that conservative Catholic politicians are rousing racial...

The Vatican’s formal approval for the Neocatechumenal Way does not extend to changes that members of the movement have made in celebrating Mass, Vatican officials have confirmed. As CWN reported...

Tens of thousands of pro-life activists braved raw, rainy weather in Washington, DC on January 23 to participate in the 39th annual March for Life. “It's consistently one of the largest protests...

The proper application of canon law entails “a search for the truth about law and justice in the Church,” said Pope Benedict XVI on January 21, as he spoke with officials of the Roman Rota as the...

Fulfilling an ancient Roman tradition for the feast of St. Agnes, on January 21, Pope Benedict XVI blessed two lambs whose wool will be used to make the pallium, the liturgical vestment that...

The quest for unity among all Christians “will be realistic if change first comes about within us,” Pope Benedict XVI told a midday audience on Sunday, January 22. Reminding his listeners that...

Bishop John Namanzah Niyiring has offered an account of the recent attack on Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. Nearly 200 lost their lives in the...

Gunmen entered a chapel near Atoyac de Álvarez, a city of 60,000 in southwestern Mexico, killing seven and injuring five. The attack occurred on the evening of January 21 as the faithful were taking...

During the eve and early morning of the March for Life in Washington, over 20,000 pilgrims attended the National Prayer Vigil for Life, held at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate...

At least 70 members of two radical Muslim groups--the Indonesian Muslim Communication Forum and the Islamic Reform Movement--surrounded a home where a Protestant service was taking place. Police who...

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, has blasted the Obama administration for announcing that Church-related institutions will be required to provide...

L’Osservatore Romano has published a strongly negative review of La Chiesa Contro [The Church Against], a new book by Sergio and Beda Romano that blames the Church for hindering Italy from attaining...

Columnist Dana Milbank announces that the “religious right” no longer holds sway over the American political system. The argument itself is unremarkable. What is noteworthy is that Milbank...

A new study claims to demonstrate that abortion is safer than childbirth. The study obviously concentrates solely on the medical risks for the mother, since an abortion always destroys the unborn...

The Vatican’s news web site, which provides links to all the news services of the Holy See, is generating between 8,000 and 10,000 “hits” a day. For purposes of comparison, the Catholic Culture...

Father Frank Pavone, the president of Priests for Life, participated in the March for Life in Washington, DC, on January 23, with the approval of his bishop. Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo,...

A prominent conservative professor has announced that he is leaving Georgetown University to accept a post at Notre Dame, saying that his decision is motivated in part by the failure of Georgetown’s...

The Vatican has declined to confirm reports that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon in September. Asked for comment on a report that the Pope would travel to Lebanon for the release of his...

Wall Street Journal columnist William McGurn observes that President Barack Obama has finally managed to alienate some of the liberal Catholics who have supported him consistently in the past....

An Australian doctor who has been a leading proponent of physician-assisted suicide is under investigation after the death of a woman under his case. The Medical Board of Australia is questioning...

Lawyers representing a former official of the Philadelphia archdiocese have argued that prosecutors are attempting to blame their client for the failures of the entire archdiocese. Msgr. William...

Silence is a key to effective communication is a word overwhelmed by information, argues Pope Benedict XVI. In his message for the annual World Day for Social Communications, the Holy Father...

Sister Neena Barwa, a nun who was raped during the 2008 persecution of Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, has told the Fides news agency that suffering has led Christians to grow in...

The provincial superior of the Franciscan Sisters of Christ the King in Bosnia and Herzegovina is reporting increased hostility towards nuns. Sister Ivanka Mihaljevic told Aid to the Church in Need...

A survey conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus has found that 51% of Americans would ban the vast majority of abortions. 11% said...

A young Pakistani Catholic woman, kidnapped and forced to marry her abductor and convert to Islam, has escaped after a decade and returned to her family. When Nadia Babi was abducted at the age...

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Catholic, has renewed his efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. Same-sex marriage legislation passed in the state senate last year but failed in the state...

In requiring Catholic agencies to provide insurance that covers contraception and sterilization, the Department of Health and Human Services has created an anti-Catholic double standard, according...

At his weekly public audience on January 25, Pope Benedict XVI discussed the priestly prayer of Christ at the Last Supper. To understand that prayer fully, the Pope said, one must recognize that...

The Church today must “retrieve the apostolic zeal of the early Christian communities,” Pope Benedict XVI proclaims in his message for World Mission Sunday. The Church will observe World Mission...

Bethlehem University, the only Catholic university in the Holy Land, is losing both students and faculty members because of the Israeli “security wall” that divides the West Bank from Israeli...

A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church has voiced his support for a call by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for a crackdown on illegal immigration. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the...

As a Pakistani Christian woman awaits a court date for her appeal of a blasphemy charge, her supporters fear that even if her conviction is overturned, her life will remain in danger because of...

The Holy See’s diplomatic representative in the US was forced out of the Vatican after complaining of “corruption” in Vatican contracts, according to Italian news reports. Archbishop Carlo Maria...

Bombs exploded at two churches, including a Catholic parish, in Bauchi State in northern Nigeria on January 22. The Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram is suspected of conducting the attacks....

Joined by other diocesan leaders, Bishop José Raúl Vera López of Saltillo, a northeastern Mexican city of 725,000, has expressed his outrage at the desecration of a chapel during a raid on a prison...

Four days after criticizing the Obama administration’s contraceptive-coverage mandate as an unprecedented attack on religious liberty, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York discussed how he felt...

In an interview with Catholic News Service, Father Jeffrey Steenson discussed the challenges he faces as the leader of the recently established Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The...

Bishop Joseph McFadden of Harrisburg has attracted criticism from the Anti-Defamation League and others for comparing the monolithic nature of the public education system to the education systems of...

Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, and—unexpectedly— The Washington Post have all objected to the Obama administration’s decision that Church-related institutions will be...

At an ecumenical service closing the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Benedict XVI called for both patience and perseverance in ecumenical work. Presiding at a Vespers service on...

At a January 26 meeting with students and faculty from three regional Italian seminaries, Pope Benedict XVI underlined the central importance of prayer in the life of a parish priest. The Pope...

The Holy See has formally ratified three international accords aimed against organized crime, drug trafficking, and the financing of terrorism. In a January 26 announcement from Rome, Archbishop...

The Vatican has responded angrily to an Italian television report about alleged corruption inside the Vatican, charging that the broadcast used “questionable journalistic methods” and presented a...

Survey data show that young Americans are leaning more heavily against abortion. But the polls show that the same young respondents are more likely than their parents to accept same-sex marriage....

The lawyer for a Philadelphia priest facing criminal charges in connection with sex-abuse complaints has charged that the Philadelphia archdiocese is using his client as a scapegoat for the...

Traditionally, Egypt’s Coptic Christians invite the country’s political leaders to attend the Christmas Mass celebrated by their Pope Shenouda. But this year that tradition gave rise to some...

A talented and photogenic priest, active in the charismatic renewal, has gained enormous popularity among Catholics in Brazil. Father Marcelo Rossi, who is as famous for his singing as for his...

Peru’s Catholic bishops have chosen Archbishop Salvador Piñeiro Garcia-Calderon of Ayacucho as president of their episcopal conference. The vote was a setback for Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of...

Spain’s newly installed government, under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, plans to replace some legal restrictions on abortion. Justice minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon argues that Spain’s abortion...

Austrian Catholic Church leaders were in Rome this week, for talks with Vatican officials about the “Call to Disobedience” promoted by dissident priests. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn led the...

New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie has vowed to veto any legislation calling for legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Rather than attempting to press legislators for a change in the legal...

As EU leaders prepare to meet for the first time this year, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has called for the adoption of a financial transaction tax (FTT) to support...

Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies, is warning that thousands of people are fleeing their homes in the wake of violence between two ethnic groups...

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, and Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Virginia are among the bishops urging Catholics to...

Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, a city of 2.6 million in east-central Pakistan, is calling upon authorities to release Father Christi Silva, a Sri Lankan missionary priest who has ministered in the...

Noting that “American Catholics have in recent decades become remarkably passive even in the face of relentless hostility from the media, the entertainment industry, and now from some politicians,”...

Bishop Robert Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City - St. Joseph will go on trial on September 24 on charges of failing to report suspected child sexual abuse committed by Father Shawn Ratigan, who...

Ed Whelan of the Ethics & Public Policy Center offers a quick legal analysis of the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate, and explains why he believes it will be challenged successfully in...

The Catholic bishops of Sri Lanka have announced that they are “categorically” opposed to a bid to legalize abortion. The country’s government has proposed making abortion legal in what it...

Pope Benedict XVI underlined the urgent need to address “a profound crisis of faith,” and drew a distinction between true and false ecumenism, in a January 27 address to members of the Congregation...

Leprosy has not yet been eradicated, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care has pointed out, and more work is needed to wipe out the disease. In a message for the 59th World...

An awkward dispute over the allegations of corruption and cronyism in Vatican business dealings have revealed several things about the new apostolic nuncio in Washington, observes John Allen of the...

“Substantive progress” was reported in the latest round of negotiations between the Holy See and Israel toward the development of a long-overdue diplomatic accord. The latest talks, held at the...

“We can not and must not forget” the horror of the Holocaust, Father Federico Lombardi said in a Vatican Radio editorial on January 27. In his editorial, timed for the 67th anniversary of the...

With thousands of Christians leaving their homes in northern Nigeria to escape threatened violence, the Archbishop of Abuja has called upon the government to initiate talks with the Boko Haram...

Famine claims the lives of 100-200 children every day in the Horn of Africa, the Fides news service reports. Humanitarian agencies estimate that at least 35,000 children under the age of 5 died...

Although the Philadelphia archdiocese is not a defendant in the sex-abuse case, a Pennsylvania judge has ordered the archdiocese to prepare for a trial in March. The case against Msgr. William...

A crowd of 3,000 Muslims burned and looted some Christian homes and shops in an Egyptian village after a rumor spread that a Coptic Christian man had a photograph of a Muslim village girl on his...

Requesting prayer and action from the lay faithful, bishops nationwide continued to speak out against the Obama administration’s mandate that requires religious agencies to offer contraceptive and...

A week after members of radical Muslim groups disrupted a Protestant service in Bogor, 200 Christians from the churches protested outside the home of the nation’s president, Susilo Bambang...

An Italian missionary bishop discusses his work among people whose “only concern is survival--to continue living day to day--and most of the time they are starving.” “They drink blood because the...

Young people from 2,500 cities pledged to spend some time in prayer or Eucharistic adoration on January 29 for the intention of peace in the Holy Land. The initiative was promoted by associations of...

An Irish bishop has been charged with inciting hatred in a homily, in the first clear use of “hate crime” laws to suppress the preaching of the Gospel. Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe faces a...

Pope Benedict XVI held a special meeting on January 28 with heads of the offices of the Roman Curia. The Vatican did not disclose the reason for the meeting, but informed sources suggested that the...

The US military intervention in Iraq has made life more difficult for the country’s Catholics, according to the archbishop who oversees America’s Catholic military chaplains. Archbishop Timothy...

Pope Benedict XVI contrasted God’s authority with man-made authority, during a midday public audience on Sunday, January 29. Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading, which recounted how Jesus...

Vatican officials met on January 28 with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), to continue negotiations toward a diplomatic accord. The meeting, held at the offices of...

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled for the 2nd time that retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua is competent to give testimony in the trial of a former aide. Defense lawyers for Msgr. William Lynn have...

Upon the death of former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Pope Benedict XVI praised the deceased leader as “an illustrious Catholic statesman.” In a telegram to Marianna Scalfaro, the...

In two unrelated developments within days, employees of both the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and New York have each been charged with taking about $1 million from the Church. In Philadelphia,...

In a revealing interview with the National Catholic Register, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz reveals that he received an outpouring of support in 1996 when he announced the excommunication of members of...

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has said that although relations between the Moscow patriarchate and the Vatican are improving, he does not anticipate a face-to-face meeting with Pope Benedict XVI...

In a short but penetrating essay for The Public Discourse, Patrick Lee explains that laws defining marriage as a permanent union between a man and a woman are not discriminatory: A law is unjust...

Poland’s bishops have lamented a decision by the National Broadcasting Council to deny Trwam, a popular Catholic television station, the opportunity to broadcast on digital TV. “The exclusion of...

When India’s bishops meet in Bangalore during the first week in February, they will discuss “the role of the Church for a better India.” While India has only 18.6 million Catholics--fewer than half...

Addressing over 30 African leaders at an African Union summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded that they respect “gay rights.” “Let me mention one form of discrimination that has been...

A French diocese has appealed a ruling by a judge in Normandy that it must remove Rene LeBouvier’s name from baptismal records. An estimated 1,000 French citizens seek “de-baptism” every...

On February 1, Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois, which for over six decades had been affiliated with the Diocese of Belleville, will become Christian Social Services of Illinois so as...

In a Catholic World Report op-ed piece, Russell Shaw wonders whether the growing orthodox Catholic subculture--components of which he identifies as homeschooling, EWTN, and faithful Catholic...

The government of Saudi Arabia plans to deport 35 Ethiopian Christians who were arrested in a raid on a prayer meeting in Jeddah. The Christians were charged with “illicit mingling”—a term that...

Vatican Radio has aired a special tribute to Blessed Hildegard Burjan, an Austrian wife, mother, legislator, and social activist who was beatified in Vienna on January 30. Born into a Jewish...

Hindu zealots attacked a Catholic school in Karnataka, India, on January 27. An angry Hindu mob burst into classrooms at St. Joseph College, disrupting schoolwork, and beat students. The attack...

Pope Benedict XVI has named a new Patriarch of Venice: Francesco Moraglia, who has been heading the Italian diocese of La Spezia. A native of Genoa, Archbishop Moraglia was ordained there in...

More than 100 American bishops have denounced the Obama administration's decision to require coverage of contraceptives in all health-care plans, with no exemption for Catholic...

Two Catholic priests who were kidnapped in Sudan on January 15 have been set free. Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum was expecting the arrival of Fathers Joseph Makwey and Sylvester Mogga...

An Italian newspaper report, claiming that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been caught up in a fraudulent financial scheme, is inaccurate, the Vatican has announced. The daily...

Ireland’s Labor Party is considering a policy proposal that would call for screening of candidates for senior government office to ensure that they do no “show inappropriate deference to the...

Responding to pressure from pro-life activists, the Komen for the Cure foundation, a leading force in the battle against breast cancer, has announced that it will end its funding for Planned...

Archbishop George Niederauer of San Francisco has staked out his opposition to a US government program that the deportation of illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes. “We cannot...

Pope Shenouda III, the leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, is in declining health and may be close to death. The Egyptian prelate, who is 88 years old, suffers from diabetes and kidney...

Responding to complaints from pro-life activists, the ombudsman for the Washington Post has examined the paper’s coverage of the March for Life, and found it generally good: It was evenhanded,...

Catholic Church leaders in India’s state of Kerela are weighing a new campaign against excessive alcohol consumption, taking note of an alarming surge in alcoholism. Kerela, the state with...