Catholic World News

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement in response to the Senate’s decision to table the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. “The need to defend citizens’...

Thirty residents of the village of Kot Meerath in the eastern Pakistani province of Punjab brutally tortured Seema Bibi, a Christian woman, and paraded her through the streets because of her...

Amid rising abortion rates in England and Wales, the Telegraph has secretly filmed abortionists agreeing to perform sex-selective abortions, which are illegal in the United Kingdom. Cynthia...

China’s National Population and Family Planning Commission has directed officials not to use “nasty” slogans in enforcing the nation’s one-child policy, according to a Chinese media report....

Nearly 30 Jewish, Muslim, Christian leaders in the US--including Bishop Richard Pates, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on International Justice and Peace, and...

Citing anti-discrimination and fair housing laws, a recent graduate of a Catholic college in Massachusetts has sued her alma mater. Lindsay Blankmeyer’s lawsuit states that she entered Stonehill...

David Quinn comments on the Scottish court ruling that midwives are required to supervise abortions, even in violation of their consciences. The decision, Quinn note, strikes at the heart of...

If Catholic hospitals close their doors because of the Obama contraception mandate, could the public sector absorb the cost of substituting for those medical services? The Fiscal Times examines that...

In the latest episode of the “VatiLeaks” scandal, an Italian newspaper has published confidential letters regarding an unsuccessful effort by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to take over Milan’s...

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has told a committee of the US House of Representatives that a mandate to cover contraceptive costs will not add to insurance premiums. “The...

The director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) repeatedly dodged questions during a January deposition by invoking a law that protects rape-crisis centers, although SNAP...

US Vice President Joseph Biden has conceded that the Obama administration “screwed up” in its handling of a mandate for contraceptive coverage, but insists that the “compromise” eventually offered...

More than 2 billion people in the world are denied the protections of religious liberty, according the Vatican’s representative at UN headquarters in Geneva. Speaking to the UN’s Human Rights...

The Obama administration has made it clear that it will not back away from a mandate requiring contraceptive coverage in health-care plans, reports Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, the president...

In his annual Lenten sermons, the preacher of the pontifical household will draw on the insights of four doctors of the Eastern Church: Sts. Athanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazienzen, and Gregory Nyssen....

Large pharmaceutical corporations have a keen interest in the current debate about mandated coverage of contraception in insurance programs, argues Peter Schweizer. The Obama mandate requires...

As he preaches the Lenten Retreat for Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Curia, Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo, has stressed the need for all Christians—and especially priests—to...

Anglican Archbishop John Hepworth has been removed from his position as head of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). Archbishop Hepworth had announced his plans to retire from the TAC post...

Cuba’s Catholic bishops have issued a statement welcoming Pope Benedict XVI, who is scheduled to visit the island nation later this month. The Cuban bishops call on the faithful to prepare for...

Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi paid homage to the slain Pakistani Catholic leader Shahbaz Bhatti on the anniversary of his death March 2. The archbishop told participants in a commemorative...

Referring to Iran and quoting the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic...

Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport has joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan in criticizing an America Magazine editorial on the Obama administration’s mandate that contraceptives, sterilization, and some...

Cardinal Keith O’Brien has issued a strong warning against same-sex marriage as the British government contemplates its legalization. “Civil partnerships have been in place for several years now,...

The Archbishop of Quebec has told Vatican Radio that he welcomes the use of social media as an opportunity for evangelization. “What I really enjoy in these new social media is to be in contact...

L’Osservatore Romano has paid tribute to the English architect Augustus Pugin on the two hundredth anniversary of his birth. A convert to Catholicism, Pugin was a key figure in the Gothic...

The director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his weekly editorial to the importance of silence. “The risk that the accumulation of messages is such as to dominate us and imprison us is...

Christ’s Transfiguration is a reminder that “God is light,” Pope Benedict XVI told his midday audience on Sunday, March 4. Speaking about the day’s Gospel, which retold the story of the...

On Sunday, March 4, Pope Benedict XVI made a visit to the parish of St. John the Baptist de la Salle in the Torrino section south of Rome. Welcomed on his arrival by the children of the parish,...

The Bishop of Kontum, Vietnam, has vowed to celebrate Holy Week in an area labeled by local authorities as a “No Religion Zone.” Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh made his announcement in a pastoral...

Activists in 12 different European countries joined in public demonstrations on March 4, calling for the preservation of Sunday as a day of rest. The European Sunday Alliance--an umbrella group...

For years, officials at the Pontifical University of Peru (PUCP) have defied not only Vatican instructions but also the founding charter of the university itself. Now the Vatican has given the PUCP...

As the annual Lenten Retreat at the Vatican concluded on March 3, Pope Benedict XVI thanked Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo, for leading the spiritual exercises. Pope...

An explosion at an ammunition dump in Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, destroyed a Catholic church and caused an unknown number of casualties on Sunday morning, March 4. Archbishop Anatole...

During an evening reception in the Vatican on Thursday, March 1, the Vatican archivist and librarian, Cardinal Raffaele Farina, supported by the prefect of the Vatican Library, Msgr. Cesare Pasini,...

Leaders of the Santeria sect are expressing distress that Pope Benedict XVI will not meet with them during his visit to Cuba later this month. Although the Santeria cult is highly popular in...

An ancient relic, the heart of St. Laurence O’Toole, has apparently been stolen from Christ Church cathedral in Dublin. The heart of the 12th-century Bishop of Dublin had been kept in a wooden...

The Clericus Cup, a soccer tournament among the seminaries and pontifical colleges of Rome, begins this week, with priests and seminarians from more than 70 different countries expected to take...

A New York Times profile of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum reveals that the Pennsylvania lawmaker became much more serious about his Catholic faith after entering the US Senate....

The head of the Maronite Catholic Church has spoken with reporters about his fears that the “Arab Spring” is becoming a winter. “We are with the Arab Spring but we are not with this spring of...

The prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments said on March 5 that the “widening of the faculty to concelebrate needs to be moderated.” The Second Vatican...

The Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to lobby for a dramatic reduction in nuclear weapons. “The...

The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it will discontinue its Embryo Adoption Awareness Campaign. “Why would the Obama administration cut $2 million for adoption...

Criticizing the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Communities program, Auxiliary Bishop Mitchell Rozanski of Baltimore said that an illegal immigrant should “not be detained until he/she has...

Christian leaders in Zimbabwe are praising Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s criticism of same-sex marriage. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the Scottish prelate had called same-sex marriage a “grotesque...

The Vatican has invited the Westminster Abbey choir to sing at St. Peter’s basilica in an unprecedented ecumenical gesture. The Westminster Abbey choir will join with the Sistine Chapel choir to...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of condolence of Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the president of the Polish bishops’ conference, mourning a train accident that killed 15 people and caused dozens of...

"We are trying to slowly return to normality,” reported Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawlowski, the apostolic nuncio in the Republic of Congo, after a devastating explosion in an ammunition depot in...

A stinging Wall Street Journal editorial has backed Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York in his criticism of the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate, describing the White House stand as a...

One year after they were suspended from ministry in the wake of a scathing grand-jury report on the sex-abuse policies of the Philadelphia archdiocese, 21 priests are still uncertain about their...

Speaking to a UN session on the status of women in New York on March 6, a Vatican representatives called special attention to the needs of women living in rural communities. Dianne Willman, an...

In a message that will be read on Sunday in 2,500 Catholic churches in England and Wales, the bishops of England and Wales will warn against the “profoundly radical step” of extending legal...

Vietnamese authorities have again seized land from a Redemptorist community near Hanoi. The Redemptorist parish has been the scene of frequent clashes between police and the faithful, who have...

Amid reports that 1,000 Syrians are now fleeing the country daily for Lebanon, the national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Lebanon described the Church’s response. “We have...

Christ’s sacred tunic, housed in a reliquary at the cathedral in Trier, will be displayed for public veneration from April 13 to May 13. Pope Benedict has named Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the...

The Virginia legislature has passed a measure defending the rights of religious agencies not to place children for adoption with homosexual couples. Gov. Robert McDonnell has pledged that he will...

The justice and peace commission of the Pakistani bishops’ conference has published a study documenting the plight of Christian and Hindu women in a predominantly Muslim society. Describing...

GCB, a new television series based on a book entitled Good Christian B------, has premiered on the ABC television network, prompting calls for boycotts. The show will air under the book’s offensive...

Bishops Stephen Blaire and Richard Pates, the chairmen respectively of the Committee on Domestic Justice and the Committee on International Justice and Human Development of the United States...

Silence is essential to prayer, Pope Benedict XVI told his Wednesday public audience on March 7. Speaking to about 10,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father reflected on the...

The Vatican web site crashed on March 7, under a systematic attack by hackers allied with the “Anonymous” collaborative. Anonymous, a shadowy group that has created online havoc, singling out...

The Vatican will soon release the reports prepared during an apostolic visitation of the Church in Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has disclosed. In the wake of the sex-abuse...

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa has been confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI to a second 5-year term as president of the Italian bishops’ conference. Cardinal Bagnasco was chosen by Pope Benedict in...

With the bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church gathering in Rome for a Synod meeting, Pope Benedict XVI offered his greetings and prayerful support for their assembly. During his regular...

In an incisive and sometimes acerbic essay, columnist Mark Steyn argues that mainstream Christian churches have irreparably damaged their own standing by adopting the attitudes of political...

The Obama administration has frequently shifted its arguments in favor of the contraceptive mandate, notes Joan Desmond of the National Catholic Register. At times the White House has claimed...

The Vatican has reversed a decision by Bishop Richard Lennon to close 13 parishes in the Cleveland diocese, according to a lawyer representing parishioners. The Congregation for the Clergy ruled...

A spokesman for the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has said that the group “will launch a number of attacks, coordinated and part of the plan to eradicate Christians from certain parts of the...

Bishops Stephen Blaire and Richard Pates, the chairmen respectively of the Committee on Domestic Justice and the Committee on International Justice and Human Development of the United States...

The Diocese of Sacramento will no longer donate funds to Francis House Center, an agency that assists the homeless, because its new director, a Methodist minister, supports legalized abortion and...

In a brief interview with Forbes, Carolyn Woo, the new president of Catholic Relief Services, discussed the future of the agency. Asked to discuss her top priorities, Woo, who until recent served...

Msgr. John Armitage, the chair of the Catholic 2012 Committee for the London Olympics, has told Vatican Radio that the Church will offer a round-the-clock chaplaincy service for officials and...

L’Osservatore Romano has published a positive review of Where Do We Go Now?, a 2011 Lebanese film in which Christian and Muslim women in a village attempt to prevent men from engaging in...

The former president of the Vatican city-state governatorate has defended his administration against charges of cronyism and inefficiency. Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, who retired last October, told...

The Vatican's internet site was restored, and apparently fully functional, on March 8, less than 24 hours after a crippling attack by hackers. The 'Anonymous' collaborative claimed credit for...

The US government has announced concern that the Vatican could be exploited by money-laundering operations. The State Department listed the Vatican among countries whose banking systems might be...

The International Theological Commission has released a document on the current state of Catholic theology. A Vatican statement released on March 8 in conjunction with the document summarizes...

The Vatican Museums have provided nearly half of the material for a special exhibition on Etruscan culture, which will open in Asti, Italy on March 17. At a public presentation on the exhibition,...

Boston College has declined to renew the teaching assignment of Father John Shea, after the priest wrote to Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley saying that he saw no reason why the Church should not...

Anthony Esolen points out that steroids are tightly regulated, because the US government recognizes their damaging effects. He argues that there is a much stronger argument, medical and social, for...

The lower house of New Hampshire’s legislature has passed a bill to protect the consciences of employers, stipulating that health-care plans need not include contraceptive coverage if that coverage...

Migration should be recognized as an opportunity rather than a problem, for the Church and for host countries as well as for migrants themselves, argues Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s...

The terrorist group that has threatened to eradicate Christianity in northern Nigeria has announced that it will kidnap Christian women to further its aims. “We are going to put into action new...

The Dutch parliament is debating whether to legalize assisted suicide for those 70 and older who are “tired of living.” Current Dutch law, passed in 2002, permits persons of age 12 or older to...

The president of the Korean bishops’ conference is strongly criticizing South Korea’s decision to proceed with the construction of a naval base on the island of Jeju over the objections of local...

Documents unearthed by the Pave the Way Foundation show that Msgr. Eugenio Pacelli supported a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1917, the future Pope Pius XII met with Nahum Sokolow of the World...

Believers must strive heroically against materialism in order for the New Evangelization to take root, Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis said in an interview with L’Osservatore...

Camaldolese Benedictines are commemorating the 1,000th anniversary of the foundation of their motherhouse in Camaldoli, Italy, where St. Romuald encouraged the vocation of some monks to live in...

A Vatican envoy has protested a UN report that promotes legal acceptance of same-sex marriage and calls for governmental action to eliminate discrimination against homosexuals. Archbishop Silvano...

The sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict XVI argued in a March 9 address to 1,300 clerics participating in an annual course on the “internal...

Attacks on the institution of marriage—and in particular the drive for legal recognition of same-sex marriage—call for “a reasoned defense of marriage as a natural institution,” Pope Benedict XVI...

Vatican technicians managed to blunt the main force of an attack by hackers on the Holy See’s web site, a spokesman has reported. Although the attack by the ‘Anonymous’ hackers’ collaborative...

While Pakistan’s government leaders observed International Women’s Day, a policeman in Punjab province raped a 14-year-old girl at gunpoint. Neither local police nor the hospital at which the girl...

Two Catholic activists in Vietnam have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for distributing pamphlets written by the jailed human-rights activist, Father Nguyen Van Ly. Thuy Vo Thi Thu was...

Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, has earned special praise from Pope Benedict XVI for his decision to alter the usual sequence in which young Catholics receive the sacraments,...

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia had indicated that a review of the cases involving 21 priests who were suspended from ministry last year is “very near conclusion.” The archbishop said...

David Gibson of Religion News Service provides background on the challenge facing the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in its current confrontation with the Obama administration over the...

Cardinal Jose Sanchez, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, died on March 9 in Manila, just short of his 92nd birthday. Born in the Philippines and ordained to the priesthood in...

Spanish parliamentarians have rejected an effort by leftist lawmakers to revise the government’s accord with the Holy See. Liberal groups had sought to change the agreement that provides for...

Suicide bombers attacked a Catholic parish in the central Nigerian city of Jos on March 11, killing at least ten people. Jos has been a center of activity of the Islamist terrorist organization Boko...

“The Amish are exempt from the entire health care reform law,” writes Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “So are members of...

Auxiliary Bishop Barry Knestout of Washington has told local priests that Father Marcel Guarnizo, who denied Holy Communion to a lesbian at her mother’s funeral Mass, “has been placed on...

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the pontifical household, devoted the first of his four annual Lenten sermons to St. Athanasius. Pope Benedict and leaders of the Roman Curia attended...

The director of the Holy See Press Office recalled the first anniversary of his weekly editorial to the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. “We all admired the courageous, dignified, and...

The publication of The Jewish Annotated New Testament, published by Oxford University Press, is “the first time that Jewish scholars have annotated and written essays on the complete New Testament,”...

Cardinal John Tong Hon of Hong Kong recalls his childhood in mainland China in an interview with Vatican Insider. The archbishop--the 7th Chinese to be named a cardinal--notes that the Beijing...

Any portrait of Jesus as a political revolutionary is inaccurate, Pope Benedict XVI told his Sunday public audience on March 11. Reflecting on the cleansing of the Temple, recounted in the day’s...

Pope Benedict XVI joined with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, for a Vespers service on March 10, the feast of St. Gregory the Great, at the ancient monastery of San Gregorio al...

The Anonymous internet hackers have launched a new attack on the Vatican, this time concentrating on the web site of Vatican Radio. Anonymous, a collaborative effort by radical hackers, had...

A South African businessman who was killed in 1990 by proponents of witchcraft could be recognized as a martyr. Benedict Daswa was killed when he refused to participate when neighbors sought to...

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has revealed that Republican leaders in the state legislature gave the Catholic bishops of New York assurances that a bill recognizing same-sex marriage would not...

Catholic World Report carries an interview with Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet, once the most prominent political dissident in Castro's Cuba. Dr. Biscet was released one year ago after spending more than...

The world’s Catholic population grew by 15 million, or 1.3%, in 2010: the last year for which full statistics are available. There were nearly 1.2 billion Catholics in the world at that...

A Wall Street Journal article explores the difficult moral questions associated with the transplantation of human organs: a business that generates $20 billion in medical expenses each year. A...

In a powerful and witty column on the furor surrounding Sandra Fluke, Mark Steyn asks why taxpayers should be asked to subsidize a student's responsibility-free sexual activity. It’s that a...

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who entered the Catholic Church after retiring from public office, has broken with the Church by indicating that he “strongly supports” a bid for legal...

A former Planned Parenthood clinic director has testified that Planned Parenthood submitted up to 87,000 false claims for government reimbursement. Abby Johnson, who converted to the pro-life...

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will lose support for its goal of independence by backing same-sex marriage, the Catholic bishops of Scotland have predicted. A new political survey finds that...

The government of Sudan, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, has stripped between 500,000 and 700,000 Christians of their citizenship and ordered them to leave for the new nation of South Sudan,...

Amid reports that Christian youth were killing Muslims in retaliation for a terrorist attack on a central Nigerian parish, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos appealed for calm. “The young people...

Charity--along with devotion to Our Lady of Charity, patroness of Cuba--is at the heart of Pope Benedict’s upcoming visit to the island nation, according to Archbishop Dionisio Guillermo García...

The worldwide surge in the number of seminarians that began during the papacy of Blessed John Paul II (1978-2005) is continuing under Pope Benedict. According to the newly released Annuario...

Speaking at the famed Abbey of Monte Cassino, the Archbishop of Canterbury paid tribute to the legacy of English Benedictines and traced their success as missionaries to their apostolic poverty and...

Following the passage of Illinois legislation that compelled adoption and foster-care agencies to place children with homosexual couples or close their doors, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of...

Cuba’s government-controlled television will broadcast an address by Havana’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino on March 13, in preparation for a visit to Cuba by Pope Benedict XVI later this...

The former chief financial officer of the Philadelphia archdiocese has been placed under arrest and will face charges for allegedly embezzling over $1 million in Church funds. Anita Guzzardi was...

A solid majority of Americans believe that religious institutions should have the right to exclude contraceptive coverage from their health-care plans, according to a new CBS/New York Times...

Citing the testimony of Spanish doctors and pro-life activists, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports that abortions and sterilizations are apparently taking place at Catholic hospitals in...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of condolence to the family of an Italian man who was killed by terrorists in Nigeria. The papal message came in a telegram to Archbishop Enrico Masseroni of...

Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams to address the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which will discuss the New Evangelization. After a joint...

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh met with victims of sexual abuse on March 12, offering his sympathy and apologizing for the failures of Church leaders. Cardinal Brady met with the group along with...

The chairman of the US bishops’ committee on religious freedom still holds out hopes for negotiations with the White House on the contraceptive mandate, but indicates that the talks have reached an...

The British government is prepared to argue against the right of employees to wear a crucifix while at work. In a case pending before the European Court of Human Rights, two women have argued...

Hadley Arkes argues that the appearance of an article in a bioethics journal justifying infanticide demonstrates the need to revive the public discussion of the Born-Alive Infants’ Protection Act....

The apostolic nuncio to Syria is calling upon President Bashar al-Assad to put a stop to the killing of civilians. An estimated 8,000 have been killed since protests began last year. “Killing of...

The bishops of Pennsylvania have declared March 30 to be a day of prayer, fasting, and abstinence for religious liberty. “The assault by the federal government on constitutionally guaranteed...

As its First Fridays for Food Security initiative concludes, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging Catholics to pray, fast, and lobby on behalf of the hungry on Good...

After a lawsuit was filed in federal court, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro changed course and granted official recognition to Make Up Your Own Mind, a Christian pro-life organization...

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Warwick in England found that the suicide rate is 74% higher in nations where 85% or more of the population is Protestant than in nations where...

Writing in L’Osservatore Romano, Cristian Martini Grimaldi praises the Free Hugs Campaign, an initiative in which strangers are encouraged to give one another hugs. The campaign, writes Grimaldi,...

At his weekly public audience on March 14, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that the Virgin Mary strengthened the apostles because “she shared the most precious of things: the living memory of Jesus in...

In a January 20 address to members of the Neocatechumenal Way, Pope Benedict XVI offered “a liturgical theology valid and useful for the Way and for the whole Church,” notes a reflection in...

In a notice on the pending case before the European Court of Human Rights, regarding two British women who were told they could not wear a cross while at work, L’Osservatore Romano observes that...

Most of Scotland’s people oppose a bid to legalize same-sex marriage, a new survey shows. The poll of 1,004 Scottish adults, conducted by Opinion Research Business, found that 53% of respondents...

A Pakistani Christian woman has been arrested and charged with blasphemy—on the same day that human-rights activists delivered a petition to the UN on behalf of another Pakistani Christian woman who...

At the conclusion of his regular weekly public audience on March 14, Pope Benedict XVI received a delegation from Norcia, Italy, carrying the “Benedictine torch” that has been circulating around the...

Vanderbilt Law School has ruled that the Christian Legal Society cannot restrict membership to students who adhere to a statement of faith. The school announced that it will not allow campus...

Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin reported that “there is a real sense of renewal in the Church in Ireland” as the nation awaits the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress, which will...

In an address that was televised nationwide by Cuba’s government-run television, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana said that a visit to Cuba by Pope Benedict XVI later this month will “revive...

Father Marcel Guarnizo, who was removed from ministry in the Washington archdiocese after a confrontation with a lesbian activist, has issued a statement strongly defending his actions. Father...

Decrying the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate as “a mandate to act against our teachings” and “a violation of personal civil rights,” the Administrative Committee of...

Flaminia Giovanelli, the undersecretary of Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has told Vatican Radio that the council is preparing a new document on the right to water. “The right to...

The Palestinian Authority has declared the First Baptist Church in Bethlehem to be illegitimate. “They said that our legitimacy as a church from a governmental point of view is not approved,”...

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Catholic layman who signed into law a measure that legalized same-sex marriage in Maryland, and Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, a retired Australian bishop who has been criticized...

Bishop Patrick McGrath of San Jose has asked parishioners in his diocese to renew the St. Francis Pledge on Earth Day. “By taking this pledge,” he noted, “we agree to pray to reflect on our...

The Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued an appeal for peace in the Middle East. “With Pope Benedict we share a special bond with our brother...

Vatican workers are making steady progress on a massive restoration project: cleaning the marble columns of the famous Bernini colonnade around St. Peter’s Square. Begun in 2009, the work is...

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen an Italian married couple to write the meditations to be used at the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday in the Roman Coliseum. Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi, the...

A Canadian attorney is bringing a class-action lawsuit against the Catholic Church in Quebec, charging that Church officials placed undue pressure on single mothers to offer their children for...

In Syria a political conflict is “heading into the unknown,” reports a Catholic prelate there, and Christians are fearful of the future. "The suffering which we live is great,” Maronite Catholic...

Why has President Obama pushing for the contraceptive mandate, even to the point of risking the wrath of the Catholic hierarchy during an election year? Janice Shaw Crouse of Concerned Women for...

The University of Regensburg has published The People and the House of God in Doctrine of the Church, a doctoral thesis on the work of St. Augustine that was presented in 1953 by the young Father...

A Missouri judge has ruled against a bid by the St. Louis archdiocese to regain control over the rebellious parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka. In a ruling released more than a year after a lengthy...

At the request of the Archdiocese of Havana, police have removed 13 protestors who occupied a parish in central Havana. The protestors had demanded that Pope Benedict present their grievances to the...

The bishops of Argentina have denounced a Supreme Court decision that has legalized abortion in cases of rape. “Abortion is the killing of an innocent life, and no grounds or reason can justify...

A Rwandan bishop who was arrested on genocide charges in 1999 and acquitted the following year has died at the age of 69. During the genocide trial, L’Osservatore Romano defended Bishop Augustin...

The Confederation of Religious in Chile has joined Bishop Luigi Infanti della Mora in urging the government not to suppress protestors in the southern region of Aysén. The protestors are demanding...

Pope Benedict XVI has offered his condolences after a bus crash in Switzerland claimed the lives of 28 people, 22 of them Belgian schoolchildren. “Having learned of the tragic coach accident in...

A Catholic layman has become the first private business owner to file suit against the HHS mandate that forces employers to provide insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization, and...

The Vatican has informed leaders of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that doctrinal differences prevent the regularization of the traditionalist group. The Vatican announced on March 16 that...

Studying the works of the Church Fathers is useful “to rediscover the vital unity between faith as it is professed and faith as it is lived,” the preacher to the pontifical household said in the 2nd...

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has set up a new web site, to provide access to important Vatican doctrinal statements. The new web site provides a thorough list of the...

Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and the Russian have reached agreement on a joint statement calling for reconciliation between the people of Russia and Poland: a historic agreement on...

Marco Tosatti of Vatican Insider reports that the Vatican has not yet begun a serious investigation into the source(s) of leaked documents, and no real investigation is planned. Archbishop...

Former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who was the Democratic party’s presidential candidate in 1988, tells the New York Times that Cardinal Richard Cushing, then the Archbishop of Boston,...

A Reuters report claims that Catholic bishops “pressured” the Komen Foundation to end its support for Planned Parenthood. In fact, the Reuters story shows that several Catholic bishops had ended...

Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria, has voiced concerns about reports that the country’s government is prepared to negotiate with the Boko Haram terrorist group. "I do not know what...

Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, who has led the Coptic Orthodox Church since 1971, died on March 17 at the age of 88. The Coptic Orthodox Church, which ceased to be in full communion with the...

The Vatican’s sostituto--the deputy secretary of state who supervises the flow of paperwork within the Roman Curia--said that those who have leaked Vatican documents to the media are guilty of...

Following up on its recent call for prayer and penance on behalf of religious liberty, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued “Prayer for Religious Liberty” prayer cards. The...

The apostolic nuncio in Syria has welcomed the news that the Syrian government, United Nations, and Islamic Organization for Economic Cooperation will be conducting a joint humanitarian mission in...

Boiling Springs, North Carolina--a town of 4,700 that is home to a Southern Baptist university--will soon be the site of a Poor Clare monastery and may one day be the location of a Southern regional...

Vatican Radio has interviewed Danilo and Annamaria Zanzucchi, the spouses whom Pope Benedict has asked to write the meditations for the Way of the Cross in the Colosseum on Good Friday. Danilo is...

Pope Benedict XVI and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti exchanged greetings on March 19, as each celebrated a feast day. The Pope congratulated Monti on the Italian leader’s 69th birthday....

During his visit to Cuba later this month, Pope Benedict XVI will meet privately with the Fidel Castro if the longtime Cuban leader is available, Vatican officials say. But the Pontiff will not meet...

The season of Lent is like “a journey with Jesus across the desert,” Pope Benedict XVI told his Sunday audience on March 18. The Pontiff encouraged the faithful to spend the remaining days of Lent...

The Obama administration has released some more details about the mandate for contraceptive coverage in health-care plans. A March 16 announcement from the Department of Health and Human...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has refused to release some documents for the sex-abuse trial of a former archdiocesan official, saying that the documents are protected by the lawyer-client...

The Cincinnati archdiocese has given permission for priests to say prayers of exorcism at an abortion clinic. Priests involved in 40 Days for Life will say the prayers for “exorcism of locality”...

The leader of the Anglican communion in Nigeria has sharply criticized Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who announced last week that he will step down at the end of this...

JP Morgan Chase, one of America’s leading banks, has closed down an account held by the Vatican bank at its Italian branch office in Milan. Neither the American bank nor the Vatican bank...

Religion reporter Terry Mattingly raises a question that has often been asked by orthodox Catholics: When radical Catholics find themselves thoroughly at odds with Church doctrine, why don’t they...

Speaking with Al Jazeera, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue lamented mutual ignorance between Christians and Muslims. “We succeeded in avoiding the clash of...

When Pope Benedict arrives in Mexico later this week, he will encounter a society torn by violence. “Vicious narcotraficking gangs are vying for control of key points in the Western Hemisphere's...

A member of the Jordanian royal family has urged Arab Christians to stay in their native lands. “The Arab Christians are Arabs and are the pioneers of thought and Arab revival,” said Prince...

The murder of a rabbi and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse is “ignoble and shameful” and “arouses deep indignation and bewilderment and the most resolute condemnation,” said Father...

The director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his most recent weekly editorial to Pope Benedict’s upcoming apostolic journey to Mexico and Cuba. “The many reasons for the Pope’s journey...

At least ten minors were castrated in Catholic psychiatric institutes in the Netherlands in the 1950s in an attempt to counter homosexual tendencies, according to a Dutch newspaper report. Some were...

Pope Shenouda III, who died on March 17 at the age of 88, played a defining role in the recent history of the Coptic Orthodox Church—not only because of his remarkably long tenure (40 years) as the...

The Vatican will continue its “Courtyard of the Gentiles” initiative, designed to promote encounters between Christianity and secular culture, with a meeting in Palermo, Italy on March 29-30. The...

Vatican officials have continued their drive to secure accreditation from European banking authorities, meeting last week with representatives of MoneyVal, the arm of the European Council that...

The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, has completed a preliminary investigation for the beatification of Father Walter Ciszek, the Jesuit missionary who spent more than 20 years in Soviet labor...

A Syrian Orthodox church in Baghdad was among the targets as Iraqi terrorists set up more than 20 bombs on March 20, marking the 9th anniversary of the US military offensive against the regime of...

Continuing to call attention to the religious beliefs of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, the Washington Post carries a confused article that quotes from a speech Santorum gave 3...

Pope Benedict XVI has named new archbishops for two important sees in North America, choosing Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to become Archbishop of Baltimore; and Bishop Christian...

Former Polish President Lech Walesa has asked Pope Benedict XVI to meet with political opponents of the Castro regime during his visit to Cuba later this month. Walesa, the leader of the...

The Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia, has made a grant of $100,000 to researchers working with adult stem cells. The grant, issued to two researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, will go to...

Pope Benedict XVI has announced that a plenary indulgence can be obtained by those who attend the re-opening of church in Shrewsbury, England, that will be dedicated to the extraordinary form of the...

A Vatican delegation will visit Vietnam next week to collect testimony regarding the cause for beatification of the late Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. The Vietnamese prelate, who...

The Vatican has released a comprehensive report on the struggles of the Catholic Church in Ireland, concentrating on the response to the sex-abuse scandal but also addressing the issue of widespread...

The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe has released a report documenting incidents of anti-Christian discrimination in Europe in 2011. “Studies suggest...

Officials in Amriya, Egypt, have expelled all members of a Christian family from their homes after one members of the family was accused of having an affair with a Muslim woman. After their...

The Archdiocese of New York has announced that St. Patrick’s Cathedral will be undergoing a $175-million restoration, $45 million of which has already been raised. “The goal at the end of the day...

Amid parish closures and dramatic cuts in the number of chancery staff, the number of lay employees of the Archdiocese of Boston who earned more than $150,000 a year increased from five in 2006 to...

In a March 20 memorandum, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urged pastors, diocesan officials, and state Catholic conferences to “mobilize Catholics … as quickly as possible” to take...

A priest of the Diocese of Helena faces felony sexual abuse charges for possessing pornographic images of boys. Father Rudolph Bullman, pastor of Risen Christ Parish in Kalispell, reportedly told...

Islamic extremists are engaged in “ethnic cleansing” of Christians in the Syrian city of Homs, local sources tell the Fides news service. Militants with links to Al Qaida have reportedly driven...

Chinese police have smashed the tombstone of an “underground” Catholic priest, explaining that the decease priest should not be identified on the tombstone as “Father” Joseph Shi Liming. Police...

The Women in White, a prominent group opposing the Castro regime, has announced plans to have representatives at all public appearances by Pope Benedict XVI during the Pontiff’s visit to Cuba on...

An Irish political columnist has made the charge that Catholic theology causes sexual abuse. “Clerical sexual abuse is inevitable given the meaning system that is taught by the Catholic Church...

As Pope Benedict XVI prepares for an international voyage that will take him to Mexico and Cuba from March 23 to 29, the Vatican has released some statistics about the Church in each country....

At least 1,000 Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers were killed between 1980 and 2011, according to the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. At least 115 were...

Reacting to reports that ten boys were castrated in Dutch Catholic psychiatric institutes in the 1950s, Eric van den Berg, who runs the Catholic internet portal katholiek.nl, notes that electroshock...

Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha has opened the cause for beatification of Irish-born Father Edward Flanagan (1886-1948), who cared for 6,000 youth during his lifetime and founded Boys Town. “For...

Less than two months before North Carolina residents will vote on a state constitutional amendment that would define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, President Barack Obama blasted the...

The parish priest of a small parish in the Archdiocese of Vienna has refused to allow an openly homosexual 26-year-old to serve on the parish council. Florian Stangl, who is disabled, lives in a...

Rallies for religious freedom are scheduled to take place March 23 at noon at over 100 cities around the country. The rallies, coordinated by Eric Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League and Monica...

A visit to Cuba by Pope Benedict XVI will not strengthen the Castro regime, according to the Vatican Secretary of State. In fact the papal trip will fuel the movement toward democracy, Cardinal...

The attorney general of Alabama has joined in a lawsuit filed by the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) to stop the Obama contraception mandate. Attorney General Luther Strange said that...

Russell Shaw provides a brief history of the federal government's involvement in promoting contraception in the US and abroad. The process began in the 1950s, under President Dwight Eisenhower. But...

Irish government officials are investigating complaints that police (garda) officials failed to respond to reports of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne. An independent report on the Cloyne...

Newly appointed Archbishop Christian Lépine avoided being drawn into hot political debates as he was introduced to the media in Montreal, concentrating instead on fundamental matters of...

A Catholic archbishop in India’s Orissa state has denied reports that Church leaders are negotiating for the release of Italians being held by Maoist rebels. "With whom would we negotiate? We do...

Ecumenical relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being stymied because the Moscow patriarchate will not admit its culpability for...

Bishop Fabio Colindres Abarca, who heads the military ordinariate for El Salvador, has announced a truce between rival drug-trafficking gangs, which has proposed a welcome drop in the rate of...

The Pontifical Council for the Laity is organizing a meeting to discuss the experiences of World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations and to plan for the next WYD in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2013. The...

In a letter urging the speaker of the House of Representatives to work for the speedy passage of immigration reform legislation, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop José Gomez of Los...

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that European nations which define marriage as the union of a man and a woman are not guilty of discrimination. “The European Convention on Human...

The apostolic nuncio to Syria has express his “full support” for a unanimous UN Security Council resolution on the Syrian crisis. The resolution calls for a cease fire, negotiations between the...

The United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women has been the scene of recent attempts by the United States delegation to incorporate its views on “safe, effective, affordable and acceptable...

On the eve of Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to Cuba, the chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has emphasized that the US bishops...

The bishops of Iowa have joined the bishops of Pennsylvania in declaring March 30 a day of prayer, fasting, and abstinence for religious liberty. Noting that the HHS contraceptive mandate...

Pope Benedict XVI left Rome on March 23, to begin the 23rd foreign trip of his pontificate, his 2nd visit as Pope to Latin America. He will be in Mexico from March 23 to 26, then travel to Cuba,...

A new survey shows a “noticeable shift” in the opinions of American Catholics regarding the Obama administration’s position on religious freedom. Apparently as a result of the clash between the...

The murder of a Christian man in Mosul has continued a reign of terror against the religious minority in the Iraqi city, where militant Sunni Muslims hope to establish Islamic law. Salman Dawoud...

Pope Benedict XVI denounced Mexico’s drug violence, and said that Marxism is no longer a viable governing system in Cuba, during an exchange with reporters who accompanied him on his flight from...

Pope Benedict XVI promised his prayers to the people of the US, as he passed above American soil during his flight from Rome to Mexico on March 23. Following his usual practice, the Pope sent...

Austin Ruse describes the vicious personal attacks that were visited upon him by homosexual activists after he took a public stand against gay-rights activism. The same treatment, he points out, is...

A Chinese official has announced that the government will cease transplanting organs from prisoners who are condemned to execution. The announcement was significant because the Beijing regime had...

About 20,000 refugees from Syria have already entered Lebanon, creating a “humanitarian emergency,” with many thousands more expected to follow. Father Simon Faddoul, the president of Caritas...

A laicized Catholic priest has entered a guilty plea on sex-abuse charges just before his trial was about to begin in Philadelphia, thereby placing pressure on his co-defendants. Edward Avery...

Former US President Jimmy Carter has disclosed that he had angry exchanges with Pope John Paul II about liberation theology and about the ordination of women. The former president said that he...

An editorial in the Jesuit magazine America has scolded the US bishops for their continued opposition to President Obama’s contraceptive mandate. Rapping the US Conference of Catholic Bishops...

Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich has been elected the new president of the Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE). COMECE is an umbrella organization serving the...

Over 50,000 Americans participated in rallies for religious freedom in over 140 cities, according to Stand Up for Religious Freedom Co-Director Monica Migliorino Miller. “The only real...

Chinese government officials have detained a bishop and his chancellor and are compelling them to attend “learning classes.” The Holy See recognizes the ministry of Coadjutor Bishop Peter Shao...

Uttering blasphemies and wearing masks and provocative attire, a feminist punk-rock band danced in front of the pulpit of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, prompting a strong...

The New York State Catholic Conference has announced its opposition to a bill that would legalize alkaline hydrolysis, the chemical digestion of a corpse in a heated mixture of water and...

The EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary and has grown to 187 affiliates, including stations in 19 of the top 35 radio markets. “From the time John...

The Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies has launched a $2.3-million appeal for Burkina Faso. Nearly two million people face the prospect of famine in the sub-Saharan...

The Vatican has cancelled plans for a conference on stem-cell research, at which proponents of embryo research were scheduled to speak. The conference, organized by the Pontifical Academy for...

A Canadian judge unleashed a harangue on a pro-life activist as he sentenced her to an added prison term for refusing to stay away from abortion clinics. Mr. Justice S. Ford Clements refused to...

“I come as a pilgrim of faith, of hope, and of love,” Pope Benedict XVI announced when he landed in Mexico on Friday afternoon, March 24, to begin a weekend visit. The Holy Father flew into Leon,...

The Church and the state have a shared duty, “each according to its specific mission, in protecting and promoting the fundamental rights of each person,” the Vatican’s Secretary of State told an...

As Cuba awaits the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI, who begins a pastoral visit there on March 26, a lively debate is taking place about the political implications of the papal visit. Opponents of...

Cardinal Sean Brady, the Primate of All Ireland, has again brushed aside suggestions that he might resign, after the release of a Vatican report critical of the Irish hierarchy’s handling of the...

A Catholic bishop voiced his opinion that the “Obamacare” health reform as a whole is constitutional, but the contraceptive mandate for religious institutions is not, in a speech at Catholic...

Vatican II “was a genuine sign of God for our time,” Pope Benedict XVI said in a message to French Catholics participating in a weekend symposium at Lourdes to mark the 50th anniversary of the...

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow, Scotland has warned against the bid to “redefine nature” and “recreate society” The drive for acceptance of gay marriage, the archbishop said, is based upon a...

The Vietnamese government has refused to grant entry visas to members of a Vatican delegation investigating the cause for beatification of Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. Vietnamese...

The trial of a Philadelphia priest charged with endangering children by covering up evidence of sexual abuse opens in Pennsylvania on March 26. Msgr. William Lynn, who was secretary for clergy in...

Pope Benedict XVI offered a prescription for change in Cuba as he arrived on Monday afternoon, March 26, to begin a 3-day visit there. The Pope—who had said last week that Marxism has failed in...

Church leaders in Europe have decried the announcement by Saudi Arabia’s top Islamic leader for the destruction of all Christian churches on the Arabian peninsula. Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh...

Irish essayist David Quinn argues that the Catholic bishops of Ireland constitute the least assertive Catholic hierarchy of the English-speaking world. The Irish bishops, Quinn says, show “a...

Siding with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a federal judge has declared that grants made to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to assist human-trafficking victims...

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has granted a request by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to approve a Rite for the Blessing of a Child in...

A week after the Fides news agency quoted Syrian Orthodox sources as saying that Islamist forces were engaged in ethnic cleansing against Christians in Homs, local Jesuits have told Fides that...

Soldiers in Myanmar (Burma) have recently disrupted an evangelical conference, burned Bibles, and ransacked a Protestant church in Chin State in the western part of the nation. “These incidents...

Staff at the Catholic cathedral in Norwich, England, have installed seven cameras following three thefts of lead over the past year. Thieves have stolen some of the cathedral’s piping as well as...

The Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced that it is granting $3.5 million to assist the Church in four Caribbean nations....

The German district superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) sees “good reason for hope” that the traditionalist group can ultimately reach an accord with the Vatican, despite a setback earlier...

The chief public-policy spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church has denounced the British government’s decision to defend employers who bar their workers from wearing crucifixes. Metropolitan...

A key witness for the prosecution in the sex-abuse trial of Philadelphia priests has a long history of criminal conduct including fabricated charges of crime, notes The Media Report. The man who...

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the theme for the 27th observance of World Youth Day (WYD), which will take place at the diocesan level on Palm Sunday, March 27. The theme, taken from St. Paul’s...

Cuban police detained more than 100 anti-Castro activists just before the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI this week, thus adding fuel to the debate about the Church’s relations with the Cuban...

Investigative reports in Great Britain have shown evidence that many abortion clinics routinely falsify records, notes Michael Cook of MercatorNet. There is also evidence that the clinics fail to...

Commenting on Jeffrey Bell’s new book The Case for Polarized Politics, Hadley Arkes remarks that the Republican Party in the US, which has generally commanded the support of voters devoted to the...

Most of the dioceses of the Church of England have voted against a proposed “Anglican Covenant,” which was intended to explain the basis for continued union among Anglican groups that disagree on...

The Vatican has released the full schedule of liturgical events at which Pope Benedict XVI will preside during Holy Week and Easter. Although he will be approaching his 85th birthday, and will...

Pope Benedict XVI met at length with Cuban President Raul Castro on March 27 as he neared the conclusion of his visit to the island nation. On Wednesday, March 28, he will meet with Fidel Castro...

Supreme Court justices rigorously questioned the constitutional basis for the Obama health-care reforms during a March 27 hearing, prompting analysts to believe that the High Court might overturn...

A Catholic student group has decided to move off the Vanderbilt University campus after the school ruled that campus groups cannot restrict membership on the basis of religious beliefs. Father...

Unable to join a group traveling to Cuba during the papal visit because the Castro regime denied him a visa, Robert Royal of the Faith and Reason Institute comments from a distance on the debate...

Pope Benedict XVI has announced that money collected during the Holy Thursday Mass in the basilica of St. John Lateran will be used to support Syrian refugees. The Pope’s decision is “a very...

Tensions are rising on the border that separates Sudan from newly independent South Sudan, after the Khartoum government sent bombers to the border, where ground troops of the two nations have...

Voters in Slovenia have rejected a bid to allow legal recognition of same-sex partnerships. In a national referendum, 55% of voters rejected a proposed new Family Code that would have provided...

At the felony trial of a former Philadelphia archdiocesan official, prosecutors have introduced evidence that Msgr. William Lynn deceived parishioners who expressed concerns about the behavior of a...

“Cuba and the world need change,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily as he celebrated Mass for a congregation of nearly 1 million people in Havana on March 28, the final day of his visit to...

A 19-year-old Pakistani woman has appealed to the country’s Supreme Court for help, saying that she has been kidnapped, pressured into marriage, and is being forced to convert to Islam. Rinkel...

Modern European society is “facing the crucial challenge of whether or not to recognize the family as a social entity,” wrote Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan in an op-ed essay for the Italian...

As Pope Benedict XVI met with Fidel Castro in Havana, the estranged daughter of the longtime Cuban dictator told an Italian newspaper that her father’s tenure was “a tragedy for Cuba.” Alina...

Lawyers for Kansas City’s Bishop Robert Finn have asked a Missouri court to dismiss a criminal charge against him, arguing that the bishop was not required by law to report evidence of sexual abuse...

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami drew a lengthy ovation from a congregation in Havana’s cathedral as he issued a call for an end to Marxist rule in Cuba. The American prelate had traveled to...

An Australian Catholic bishop has said that his diocese is looking to Asia—the Philippines in particular—for help to relieve a shortage of priests. Bishop Greg O’Kelly of Port Pirie said that...

As previously announced by Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Archbishop José Gomez, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the federal...

A Chinese bishop whose ministry is not recognized by the Holy See has ordained four men to the priesthood. Three foreign priests--a Maryknoll priest from the US and two Korean Benedictine...

The leader of Caritas Internationalis--the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies--said in an interview that Caritas will launch a global campaign against poverty in October...

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is encouraging Filipinos to observe Earth Hour, an initiative in which individuals and organizations pledge to switch off their lights for one...

Bishops Michael Burbidge of Raleigh and Peter Jugis of Charlotte have issued a statement on immigration. The statement, as delivered by the Raleigh diocese’s vicar general before a state...

A layman who formerly worked as a policy analyst for the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace has raised questions about the pontifical council’s new document on water rights--and by implication,...

An Iraqi archbishop is encouraging his people to set aside their fears and celebrate Easter joyfully in spite of the violence that surrounds them. Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said that...

Japanese Catholic bishops are urging their nation’s government to abolish the death penalty, in the aftermath of the first legal executions since 2010. After the hanging of three prisoners who...

The head of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is exhorting members of the traditionalist group to “redouble their fervor in prayer” during Holy Week, as a deadline approaches for the SSPX to respond...

During his March 29 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, Fidel Castro questioned the Pope about reforms in the Latin liturgy, and asked for books that would help him understand changes in the Church, the...

“Cuba, look to the faith of your elders,” Pope Benedict XVI said as he prepared to leave the island nation on March 28. At an airport ceremony Wednesday evening before his departure for Rome, the...

Anthony Esolen reminds readers of The Catholic Thing that the doctrine of the Trinity is an essential element of Christian belief. “The danger of monotheism without the Trinity,” he writes, “is...

Moving quickly from blockbuster novel to film sensation, The Hunger Games paints a violent but compelling picture of the struggle for human freedom under a brutal and tyrannical government, writes...

The Vatican has announced the excommunication of four Ukrainian clerics who have sought recognition as leaders of the “Ukrainian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church.” In a March 29 announcement, the...

The Cuban government has released hundreds of dissidents temporarily detained during Pope Benedict’s apostolic journey to the Communist nation. Lamenting the “violently repressive tactics...

Commenting on the Department of Health and Human Services’ ’ contraception mandate, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York told popular cable television host Bill O’Reilly that members of the Obama...

Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, the president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers has issued a message for World Autism Day, which is commemorated on April 2. Entitled “An Appeal for...

Calling for a greater emphasis on palliative care, the bishops of Quebec have issued a statement decrying a commission’s recommendation that euthanasia be legalized in the province. “Changing the...

In April, the UN Commission on Population and Development will begin a final round of negotiations on a document that could state that children as young as ten have rights to “sexual and...

In a 5-2 decision, California’s State Supreme Court has upheld the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases. The ruling came after six brothers, alleging that they were abused in the 1970s...

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association’s magazine explores the Ukrainian tradition of pysanky, or decorated Easter eggs, noting that during the Communist era, the decoration of eggs--banned by...

Anna Maria College, a small Catholic institution outside Worcester, Massachusetts, has rescinded an invitation to Victoria Kennedy to be the school’s commencement speaker, at the prompting of Bishop...

In a letter that will be sent to 80,000 Catholics, a group of six Australian bishops led by Melbourne’s Archbishop Denis Hart are asking the faithful to contact their political representatives and...

Ireland remains an overwhelmingly Catholic nation, new census figures prove. But the statistics show an alarming rise in family breakdown. The census figures, released March 30, show that 84% of...

A tiny Catholic community in Kabul, Afghanistan lives as a “catacomb Church,” as described by the lone priest, and Mass attendance is dropping because of security concerns. Father Giuseppe...

The Vatican has announced the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for April 2012. The Pope's general intention is: "That many young people may hear the call of Christ and follow Him in the...

In new guidelines for funerals and burials, the Italian bishops’ conference has said that the scattering of ashes of the deceased is not allowed. The revised funeral rites, released on March 31,...

A joint Catholic-Jewish commission has released a statement on the current financial crisis, concluded that “at its roots lies a crisis of moral values.” A bilateral commission, co-sponsored by...

A 6th Anglican prelate—Robert Mercer—has been ordained into the priesthood in the Catholic Church. Father Mercer will serve in the ordinariate of Our Lady of Walshingham, which was established...

The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, long a bastion of the Church’s musical tradition, is being taken over by new leadership that will ignore that tradition, complains Sandro Magister of...

Latin-rite Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem believes that at its inception, the political ferment that came to be known as the Arab Spring “was a healthy sincere movement.” But over time the...

In the last of his Lenten Sermons for 2012, the preacher to the pontifical household showed how the thought of St. Gregory of Nyssa applies to contemporary religious experience. Preaching in the...