Catholic World News

The Vatican’s representative at UN offices in Geneva said that “the Holy See strongly condemns the escalating acts of violence in Syria and in particular the recent killings in El-Houleh.” “This...

Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies, held a conference in Vienna on June 1-2 devoted to “A Future Without Hunger.” “Every 12 seconds a child...

The chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage condemned a federal court ruling that declared a portion of the Defense of...

Among the talks delivered at the Seventh World Meeting of Families during the days preceding Pope Benedict’s Sunday homily, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston spoke on the importance of Sunday...

Commenting on the World Meeting of Families in Milan, the director of the Holy See Press Office devoted his weekly editorial to married love. “I believe it is the greatest experience offered to...

Staff members of the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have taken part in recent dialogues with Sikhs and...

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general for Vatican City, as his special envoy to the closing celebration of the Ukrainian National...

An Italian newspaper published a new batch of private Vatican documents on June 3, demonstrating that the arrest of the Pope’s valet, Paolo Gabriele, had not stopped the leaks of confidential...

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Kyle Drennan of the Media Research Center points out that while the major American television networks have given saturation coverage of the leaked confidential...

Italian media outlets have reported that a commission of cardinals refused to give its approval to the dismissal of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the president of the Vatican bank. But the director of the...

At the closing Mass for the 7th World Meeting of Families, Pope Benedict XVI said that marriage should be fruitful for the spouses, fruitful in the procreation of children, and fruitful for...

Pope Benedict XVI attended a concert in Milan's famous opera house, La Scala, on June 2, with Daniel Barenboim conducting a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. After the concert the Pope...

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will host the 8th World Meeting of Families in 2015. As the 7th World Meeting of Families drew toward a close in Milan on June 3, Pope Benedict XVI announced that...

At least 9 people were killed, and 35 seriously injured, in a suicide bombing at a Christian church in northern Nigeria on Sunday, June 3. The suicide bomber drove his vehicle, packed with...

The Vatican has issued a warning that a book by a prominent American nun puts forward positions that are “in direct contradiction with Catholic teaching in the field of sexual morality.” A June 3...

The president of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas has issued a statement defending Sister Margaret Farley and her book, Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics. In a notification...

The president of the bishops’ conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina has told Aid to the Church in Need that there is a “well-formulated strategy” to eliminate the Catholic presence in the Balkan nation...

A Melkite Greek Catholic archimandrite has denounced Western media coverage of the Syrian conflict. “The reality on the ground is far from the picture that imposes disinformation in Western...

The New Mexico Court of Appeals has ruled that it is illegal for a photography business owned by Christians to refuse to photograph a same-sex wedding ceremony—even though New Mexico law does not...

In an interview with Catholic World Report, Ruben Quezada, an expert on the Cristero War, discusses the historical background of the recently released movie For Greater Glory. “There were...

Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, the retired Archbishop of Guatemala City, died on June 4 at the age of 80. Born in his nation’s capital, Rodolfo Quezada Toruño was ordained to the priesthood in...

In his first public statement on the leaks of confidential Vatican documents, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told an Italian television interviewer that Pope Benedict XVI is not overly worried by the...

Writing in the National Catholic Register, Donna Bethell provides the background for the Vatican's recent announcement of a reform at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). She traces...

A Vatican judge has begun questioning Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s valet, who was arrested on May 23 in connection with an investigation into the leaks of confidential papal...

The contraceptive mandate could be overturned as the result of a Supreme Court decision or a Romney victory in the November presidential election, notes Gerard Bradley in The Public Discourse. But...

Italian prosecutors have searched the home and offices of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the ousted president of the Vatican bank, in a corruption investigation. The search, conducted by prosecutors in...

While the Obama administration argues that health-insurance companies should not charge women for contraceptives, a columnist in Forbes magazine makes a dramatically different argument: that women...

A new survey of Irish Catholics has found that only 31% attend Mass each Sunday, and most do not believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The Irish Times/ Ipsos MRBI poll found...

Libyans must learn to resolve political differences without violence, says the apostolic vicar of Tripoli. Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, speaking to the Fides news service after a series...

Paraguay’s President Fernando Lugo has admitted that he fathered a child 10 years ago, while he was serving as a Catholic bishop. Lugo, who announced in 2006 that he wanted to leave the...

Pope Benedict’s legate to the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin predicts that the event, which begins on June 10, “will be an extraordinary moment in the Church in Ireland and the...

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II in a homily preached on the occasion of her diamond jubilee. “She has retained an inner quality, yet one that is...

Officials of the Diocese of Pangkal-Pinang charge that protests from local Muslims have prevented civil authorities from approving the construction of a minor seminary. Pangkal-Pinang, a city of...

The Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society have announced that Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies will take place this Friday, June 8, in 154 cities in 49 states. The...

The Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has announced the publication of prayer cards “to help you pray and advocate for a 2012...

The director of the Office of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation of the Order of Friars Minor told Vatican Radio that 60 Franciscans will be attending the United Nations Conference on...

“A message of hope went out from Milan to the whole world,” Pope Benedict XVI told his regular weekly public audience on June 6, as he recalled his visit to that Italian city last weekend for the...

Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa have popularized a new practice known as “telemed abortion,” in which women are given abortifacient drugs without every meeting a doctor face-to-face. In the...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to Queen Elizabeth II, offering his “warmest congratulations” to the British monarch on her Diamond Jubilee. The Pope’s message said that Queen Elizabeth has...

For the 3rd time in recent days, undercover workers for Live Action have posted videotapes showing abortion-clinic workers helping women with plans for a sex-selection abortion. The latest...

Paolo Gabriele, the Pope’s valet, who has been charged with stealing confidential papal documents, has implicated two cardinals in the “Vatileaks” scandal, according to a report in London’s Daily...

Feminist groups in Turkey have reacted violently against the news that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to repeal the country’s law that allows abortion through the 10th week of...

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former Vatican Secretary of State, has rejected the notion that there are sharp divisions within the Roman Curia. Cardinal Sodano told the Vatican newspaper...

Women in the Beed district of India’s central Maharashtra state have been forced to undergo abortions late in pregnancy when they were discovered to be carrying female babies, AsiaNews...

A priest in the Melbourne archdiocese who was charged with sexual abuse was advised by a spiritual director who had been the subject of similar charges, The Age has revealed. Father Victor Rubeo...

A new scientific study has added to the body of evidence suggesting that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Marzia Boi, from the University of the Balearic Islands, studied...

The Philadelphia archdiocese will seek new private donations to underwrite the 8th World Meeting of Families in 2015, Archbishop Charles Chaput has indicated. The financial resources of the...

The bishops of Pakistan have expressed “full solidarity and support” for Asma Jahangir, a human rights activist who claims that the nation’s intelligence service is plotting her...

A Protestant pastor has been brutally murdered in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. “Religious Hindu fundamentalism has been gaining ground in Tamil Nadu: since the beginning of 2012 at...

The Holy See Press Office announced on June 7 that Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Power of Canberra and Goulburn has resigned from his position, which he has held since 1986. The resignation of Bishop...

A Jesuit priest who serves as pastor of a parish in the Archdiocese of Seattle has told National Public Radio that opposition to same-sex marriage is a denial of civil rights. Archbishop J. Peter...

The bishops of New Zealand have told the nation’s priests that “only the official printed copy of the Roman Missal may be used at Mass and at the Church’s other liturgies.” “With the publication...

Writing for Catholic World Report, David Pierre notes that “the media never tires of harping on the failures of Catholic leaders from decades ago while giving far more recent episodes in public...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an “action alert” on June 6 asking Catholics to “e-mail or call your Senators and urge them to support a fair Farm Bill and related amendments...

Denmark’s parliament has voted to approve a law recognizing same-sex marriage and requiring churches to solemnize them. The law allows homosexual couples to choose the church in which they wish...

After protesting against legislation that will require Catholic schools to recognize “gay-straight alliance” groups, the Catholic bishops of Ontario have announced that they will obey the new...

Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland has acknowledged “a growing disconnect” between himself and many priests of his diocese, and announced a series of meetings with priests in an effort to improve...

The director of the Vatican press office has conceded that the multiple leaks of confidential documents have damaged the credibility of the Vatican. "Clearly to restore a climate of serenity and...

The Diocese of Rochester, New York, has released the names of all the priests who have been removed from ministry because of sex-abuse charges since the “Dallas Charter” went into effect in...

In searching the home and offices of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, Italian police reportedly found dossiers of sensitive material on his tenure as president of the Vatican bank. Prosecutors in Naples...

The Eucharist is “the sacrament of the charity of Christ,” which “must permeate all of daily life,” Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed as he led the celebrations of Corpus Christi in Rome. The Holy...

As the 10th anniversary approaches of the US bishops' famous meeting in Dallas, at which the hierarchy approved a new charter for the handling of sex-abuse complaints, columnist David Gibson notes...

Stating that discussions with the Holy See “have allowed us to present clearly the various problems that we experience with regard to Vatican II,” the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X...

Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, under fire from some political dissidents for not being more vocally opposed to the Castro regime, has won praise from the leadership of prominent opposition group...

The board of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America has come to the defense of Sister Margaret Farley, a former president of the society, following the Congregation for the...

On the eve of the opening of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, the Pope’s legate to the Congress has delivered an address on the ecclesiology of communion in the fifty years since...

The Catholic Dioceses of Brentwood, Southwark, and Westminster are sponsoring “100 Days of Peace,” an initiative to promote peace on the occasion of the upcoming Olympics. “Our dream is that the...

Writing for USA Today, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh summarized what is at stake in the debate over the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate. “Should the Church...

Following up on his earlier analysis, David Gibson writes in the Wall Street Journal about the failure of American bishops to hold themselves accountable for their management (or mismanagement) of...

After 5 days of deliberation, the jury in a sex-abuse case involving a former official of the Philadelphia archdiocese has been excused for the weekend. The jury will resume its deliberations on...

Msgr. Georg Ganswein, the personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has defended the Pontiff against charges of mismanagement in connection with the “Vatileaks” scandal. Speaking to the Italian...

A lawyer for the ousted president of the Vatican bank has said that during a search of the banker’s files, prosecutors seized a dossier that was intended for the eyes of Pope Benedict XVI. The...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 8 with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Their conversation was focused on efforts to promote reconciliation in the nation after its long civil war. A brief...

In the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, more than 160 members of the clergy have signed a statement saying that they regularly administer the Eucharist to Catholics who are divorced and remarried,...

The American leaders of the Franciscan order have released a statement expressing “deep concern” over the Vatican’s quest for reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), saying...

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress opened in Dublin on June 10 with an address by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and a Mass in a sports stadium, the RDS Arena. “The Church in Ireland...

The Holy See has issued a statement expressing “surprise and concern” at the decision by Italian authorities to seize a dossier prepared for the Pope by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the recently fired...

The 1,000 Christians remaining in al-Qusayr, a city of 30,000 in west-central Syria, were recently given six days to leave, according to an ultimatum delivered from the minarets of local mosques....

Denmark’s minister for ecclesiastical affairs has assured the head of the nation’s sole Catholic diocese that the new law requiring churches to solemnize same-sex marriages will apply only to the...

Echoing a recent homily by Pope Benedict, the director of the Holy See Press Office said in his weekly editorial that Mass and Eucharistic adoration are complementary and that those who are unable...

Urging Catholics to contact members of Congress and offering seven “talking points,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Justice for Immigrants campaign has renewed its previous calls...

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his greetings to participants, organizers, and fans involved in the Euro Cup soccer competition, which opened this week at locations in Poland and Ukraine. “The Church...

At a private audience on June 11, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged airport chaplains to help bring serenity, peace, and the presence of Christ to “a great many men and women who work in an environment...

Meeting on June 9 with bishops from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Pope Benedict XVI underlined the duty of Church leaders to “speak publicly as an objective moral voice on behalf of...

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow has charged that Scotland’s treatment of people seeking asylum is “a human-rights scandal.” The archbishop was referring to the pending eviction of 100 people...

At his midday public audience on June 10, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the feast of Corpus Christi, which was being celebrated in many countries around the world that day. (In Rome, the Pontiff...

Tens of thousands of Americans participated in Stand Up for Religious Freedom demonstrations on June 8, in cities scattered all across the country. The Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a...

Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan has expressed public disagreement with the head of the Communion and Liberation movement, with which he was once strongly associated. Speaking to members of the...

The terrorist group Boko Haram has claimed credit for a new spate of bombings in Nigeria. A suicide bombing at a Christian church in the central city of Jos was closely followed by a assault in...

Palestinian news outlets are reporting that a proposed juridical-economic agreement between the Vatican and Israel would recognize Israel’s authority over occupied Palestinian territories on the...

A psychotherapist raised questions about the personal behavior of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi shortly before he was removed from his post as the president of the Vatican bank, a new leaked Vatican...

The US State Department has eliminated sections on religious freedom from its latest reports on human rights in the world’s nations. The Country Reports on Human Rights, released May 24, did not...

An extensive new study of children raised by same-sex parents has discovered a pattern of significant negative outcomes, raising serious questions about previous studies that claimed homosexual...

During a June 11 meeting with future members of the Vatican diplomatic corps, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of fidelity to the Roman Pontiff. The Holy Father told students at the...

The American bishop who conducted a Vatican-ordered assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) has vigorously defended the results of that study, and the Vatican’s decision to...

Brian Clowes, director of research and training for Human Life International, has countered an Alan Guttmacher Institute study that claims there are over 400,000 illegal abortions annually in...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Service (CRS) have again urged Catholics to lobby their representatives and senators on behalf of poverty-focused...

Christ Cathedral will be the new name of Crystal Cathedral, the former Protestant church acquired by the Diocese of Orange for $57.5 million following a ruling by a bankruptcy court judge. The...

Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, traveled to the largely Muslim country of Azerbaijan to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Blessed John...

Masses, holy hours, Eucharistic processions, rallies, concerts, and lectures are among the activities planned by various dioceses as part of the Fortnight for Freedom campaign announced by US...

“Exploring and Celebrating Our Communion through Baptism” was the theme of the second day of the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. Following Mass, which took place in the RDS Arena and...

Italian bookstores are now stocking a volume of memoirs and reflections by Bishop Luigi Padovese, who was killed in Turkey two years ago. Entitled La Verita nell’Amore (Truth and Love), the book...

Previously unpublished homilies by Origen have been discovered in a German library, the Vatican has announced. A cache of 29 homilies by Origen was found in the Bavarian State Library,...

Baptism is “the first step of the Resurrection,” Pope Benedict XVI remarked during a liturgical service at the basilica of St. John Lateran on Monday evening, June 11. Speaking at the opening of...

Unrest in the Middle East, and especially in Syria, has begun to raise questions about the plans for a September trip to Lebanon by Pope Benedict XVI. Escalating violence in Syria has caused...

Vatican Radio plans to cut its short- and medium-wave radio transmissions to Europe and the Americas, as part of a move to embrace newer technology. Announcing what he called a “new chapter in...

"Syria has started its slide into hell,” the apostolic nuncio in that country has told the AsiaNews service. Archbishop Mario Zenari warned that the escalation of violence, and the factionalism...

The Vatican has denied reports that the Holy See is prepared to recognize Israeli control over East Jerusalem as part of a bilateral accord recognizing the economic and juridical rights of the...

Leaders of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) met on June 12 with officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to discuss the Vatican’s call for reform of the...

The director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Tunisia has told the Fides news agency that he does not believe that Salafists—radical Islamists associated with terrorism— will come to power in...

At the direction of the Secretariat of State, Vatican Information Service (VIS) will cease to exist as a separate information service on July 31. The VIS staff will be reassigned to the staff of...

Using a blood sample from a mother and a saliva sample from a father, scientists at the University of Washington have developed a non-invasive test that they believe could one day be used to...

Speaking at a Jesuit parish in Charlotte, the executive director of the social justice lobby Network disparaged Vatican officials and US bishops as “inexperienced” in pastoral work and revealed that...

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales warned against the legalization of same-sex marriage in a lengthy response to the British government’s consultation on the matter. “The...

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, pontifical legate to the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, made a pilgrimage to the famed St. Patrick’s Purgatory at Lough Derg in reparation for abuse committed...

Pope Benedict XVI has reached a decision on the reconciliation of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), and the head of the traditionalist group will receive the Pope’s decision today, according to a...

At the close of his regular weekly public audience on June 13, Pope Benedict sent his greetings to participants in the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, taking place in Dublin this...

In a landmark sex-abuse case in Philadelphia, jurors deliberated for a 7th day without reaching a verdict on June 12, and emotions ran high in the courtroom as the jurors prepared to take a day off...

About 400 Christian civilians and an equal number of Sunni Muslims are trapped in the Syrian city of Homs as fighting between the regime and opposition forces rages around them, the Fides news...

Planned Parenthood counselors in Hawaii have been captured on videotape instructing a woman on how to obtain a free sex-selection abortion, at taxpayers’ expense, in the latest “sting” by the...

Loyal Catholics in Harbin, China, are engaged in a campaign of prayer and fasting in a last-minute bid to stop the illicit ordination of a new bishop without approval from the Vatican. Catholics...

Ireland’s justice minister has confirmed that Catholic priests are required by law to break the seal of confession to report abuse of children. Alan Shatter said that new legislation requiring...

Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of weekly talks about St. Paul’s teaching on prayer during his public audience on Wednesday, June 13. In this Second Letter to the Corinthians, the Pope...

The Vatican has taken initial steps to set up a new top-level domain name, “.catholic,” as a home for authentically Catholic internet sites. The Vatican has made an application to ICANN, the...

A rabbi active in Jewish-Christian dialogue has written an op-ed piece for The Jerusalem Post lauding continued progress in Jewish-Catholic relations. “Most Jews in Israel and around the world...

One of the four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X has told a French weekly that negotiations intended to lead to full communion between the Society and Holy See leave him “indifferent.” “The...

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI has made an offer of reconciliation to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), and the Vatican has prepared a document that would establish a personal...

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, pontifical legate to the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, met for two hours with abuse victims during a pilgrimage to the famed St. Patrick’s Purgatory at Lough...

On the opening day of the spring meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the chairman of the National Review Board (NRB) discussed a new 10-year progress report on addressing...

A new group of American clerics, the Association of US Catholic Priests, has been formed to “celebrate and implement the visionary concepts of Vatican Council II.” A quick sketch of the group...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 14 with Jose Graziano da Silva, the director-general of the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), who expressed his admiration for the Church’s efforts to...

In a pastoral letter to be released this weekend, the bishops of Sydney, Australia—led by Cardinal George Pell—warn against an arbitrary redefinition of marriage. “Marriage is more than having...

The topic of religious freedom dominated discussion at the meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on June 13, with the American bishops showing a strong united front on the...

By a 171-26 vote at their meeting on June 13, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) approved a proposal by Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic...

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, has announced formation of a new office for “Culture and Sport” within his dicastery, paralleling the office for “Church...

Writing in London's Catholic Herald, Father Alexander Lucie-Smith observes that if the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) chooses to surrender its status as a conference formally...

In a position paper submitted for a UN conference on sustainable development, the Vatican has insisted that the human person must be the center of all plans for development. The paper submitted...

At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring meeting in Atlanta, Bishop John Wester f Salt Lake City spoke on “Using the New Media for the New Evangelization,” and Bishop Salvatore...

Two confederations of Catholic relief and development agencies are urging the leaders of wealthy nations to make food security a priority at the upcoming G20 meeting in Mexico City. “There are...

Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, offered an apology to abuse victims during Mass at the International Eucharistic Congress on June 14. The day’s theme was...

The Society of St. Pius X has issued an official statement following a meeting between Bishop Bernard Fellay, its superior general, and Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the...

Pope Benedict XVI has established an ordinariate in Australia for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church and named a former bishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion to lead it. The new...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 15 with Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, the president of the UN’s General Assembly. A brief Vatican statement released after the meeting reported that the conversation...

The Italian journal L'Espresso provides an interesting list of bishops who have been removed from office--in some cases asked to resign, in others actually dismissed by the Pope--before reaching the...

In Sri Lanka, a politician of the opposition party has written to Pope Benedict XVI, asking the Pontiff to protect a local bishop from government reprisals. Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar has...

A Vatican-ordered report on the Pontifical Irish College in Rome contained “harsh judgments” that were “unsupported by evidence,” according to a response prepared for the Irish archbishops. In...

In a remarkably candid conversation with John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter, Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), says that a...

The Catholic Health Association (CHA) is calling upon the Obama administration to broaden the religious exemption to the HHS mandate to include Catholic hospitals. The public demand marked a...

The director of the Holy See Press Office has devoted his weekly editorial to the conflict in Syria. “A country that had been characterised by peaceful coexistence between various components of...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services have announced that a webcast devoted to “protecting life-saving care and treatment in the federal budget” will take...

Speaking at a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month Reception at the White House, President Barack mocked the Defense of Marriage Act by characterizing it as the “so-called Defense of...

Archdiocese J. Michael Miller of Vancouver has decried a British Columbia Supreme Court decision striking down the western Canadian province’s law against euthanasia. “True liberty means the...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has welcomed the Obama administration’s decision to make, in the words of The Christian Science Monitor, “about 800,000 young people who...

Bill Keller, former executive editor of the New York Times, is not a fan of Bill Donohue, the head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. Keller's sympathies are generally with the...

Bowing to demands from the Detroit archdiocese, the RealCatholic TV service has changed its name to “ChurchMilitant TV.” RealCatholic, which produced the “Vortex” reports by Michael Voris, had...

At the conclusion of his regular midday public audience on Sunday, June 17, Pope Benedict XVI called attention to the UN’s observance of World Refugee Day on June 20, and underlined “the Holy See’s...

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has described a report on the Pontifical Irish College, submitted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, as “incompetent,” and demanded that Ireland’s...

At his Sunday Angelus audience on June 17, Pope Benedict XVI said that the parable of the sower and the seeds shows that "the Kingdom of God, though it requires our collaboration, is above all a...

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is not likely to provide a final answer to an offer of reconciliation made by Pope Benedict XVI until mid-July, according to a French journalist’s...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 16 with the commission of cardinals investigating the “Vatileaks” scandal. The Vatican did not provide any announcement about the meeting. In April the Pope...

“We are facing difficult times,” admits the Vatican’s Secretary of State. Speaking at length about the “Vatileaks” scandal, in an interview with the Italian journal Famiglia Cristiana, Cardinal...

In a message to the final session of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, which closed in Dublin on June 18, Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the intent of Vatican II to promote “the full and...

At a time when a quarter of “millennial Catholics”--that is, Catholics born between 1981 and 2000--abandon their faith by age 24, Our Sunday Visitor profiles six devoted Catholics under 27,...

The director of media relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has paid tribute to Sargent Shriver (1915-2011), the onetime vice presidential candidate. Commenting on Mark...

A week after its executive director disparaged the nation’s bishops and stated she was hesitant to call herself pro-life, the social justice lobby Network has begun a “nuns on the bus” tour to...

Following a meeting with officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Leadership Conference for Women Religious (LCWR) has issued a statement noting that “LCWR members will...

Some 50 Hindu extremists attacked a tiny Christian village in the eastern Indian state of Orissa on June 15, beating a Protestant pastor and 20 residents. The remaining villagers fled into the...

Bomb attacks on three Christian churches, including the cathedral of the Diocese of Zaria, have left dozens of worshippers dead in Nigeria. The Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram...

The Patheos web site provides for expressions of all sorts of religious sentiments, and even accommodates atheists. Leah Libresco had been an engaging writer for the “Atheist” channel on the Patheos...

Pope Benedict XVI has scheduled a trip to Italy’s Emilia Romagna region on June 26, to show his solidarity with victims of an earthquake there. The Pope will travel to Emilia Romagna by...

The Vatican bank will receive a passing grade from European banking inspectors after a test of anti-laundering safeguards, according to an Italian daily newspaper. Corriere della Sera reports...

The Vatican has released the instrumentum laboris, the working document that will form the basis for discussion at the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops, which will be dedicated to the theme:...

The Holy Hermitage of Camaldoli commemorated the 1,000th anniversary of its foundation by St. Romuald on June 19, the saint’s feast day. Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governatorate of...

As the Senate began voting on the 2012 Farm Bill, the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urged Catholics to “call your Senators...

Despite their differing views on the morality of contraception, nearly 150 leaders of religious institutions, most of them Protestant, are opposed to the HHS mandate because it creates “two classes...

Less than a year after New York State legalized same-sex marriage, a lesbian who works for St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers has filed suit against the hospital for refusing to grant spousal...

Speaking at a major environmental summit in Turkey, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople said that ascesis is the “missing dimension” in discourse about the environment. “We are convinced...

The CEO of the Catholic Health Association has explained why the association recently called upon the Obama administration to broaden the religious exemption to the HHS mandate to include Catholic...

The jury in a landmark Philadelphia sex-abuse case has informed the court that it is deadlocked on 4 of the 5 criminal charges against two Catholic priests. The judge has asked the jury to continue...

At his weekly public audience on June 20, Pope Benedict XVI continued his catechesis on prayer, saying that prayers of petition should be mixed with prayers of praise. "Our prayers are often a...

Pope Benedict XVI pleaded to an end to the violent attacks on Christians in central Nigeria, during his public audience on June 20. "I appeal to leaders for an immediate end to the killing of so...

Vatican delegates at the Rio +20 conference have spearheaded a successful effort to eliminate any mention of “reproductive rights”—a term commonly used to refer to legal abortion—from the final...

Another exposé by Live Action, this time in North Carolina, has shown counselors at abortion clinics advising a woman on how to obtain a sex-selection abortion. The latest Live Action videotapes,...

In a statement to the UN’s “Rio +20” conference on sustainable development, the president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Union (COMECE) called for major changes in the...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 20 with Latvia’s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. Their conversation—according to a Vatican statement released after the meeting—centered on the role of the Church in...

The Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Scheut Missionaries) is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding by Father Theophile Verbist. The congregation’s founding years were a...

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has written True Freedom: On Protecting Human Dignity and Religious Liberty, a 99-cent eBook. “In only the last few years we’ve experienced rampant disregard...

The Syrian government has expelled an Italian Jesuit from the strife-torn nation. “The very fact that I am for change, for democracy, for human rights and dignity, this is very provocative,”...

The Argentine bishop who serves as president of Caritas in Latin America and the Caribbean has apologized following the dissemination of a compromising video and the publication of photographs in...

Speaking at a meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine, a respected neuroscientist said that euthanasia has become part of the “standard way of dying” in Great Britain. Patrick Pullicino says...

The US bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom campaign in defense of religious liberty begins with a June 21 evening Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. The Mass will take place at...

Pope Benedict XVI challenged international leaders to “spare no effort to help Syria emerge from its current situation of violence and crisis,” during a June 21 audience with representatives of the...

Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput delivered a candid and powerful speech on the threats to religious freedom to the Catholic Media Conference in Indianapolis on June 20. The archbishop...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 21 with President Filip Vujanovic of Montenegro, who was in Rome for the formal exchange of documents confirming a diplomatic accord between his country and the Holy...

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, Australia, has challenged the Liberal National Party in Queensland to deliver on a campaign promise to repeal legislation offering civil partnerships. "The...

At a Vatican press conference on June 21, Archbishop Rino Fisichella outlined plans for the Year of Faith that will begin October 11. “We must overcome the spiritual poverty affecting so many of...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled that Duquesne University, a Catholic institution in Pittsburgh, must accept NLRB rulings on personnel matters. The ruling—which Duquesne is likely...

One of the most prominent Jewish defenders of Pope Pius XII’s actions during World War II said in a recent interview that “we're definitely winning” the battle to restore the Pontiff’s...

Noting that the number of refugees fleeing their native lands has reached 12 million, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is urging the US government not to “pull back from its...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) praised the House Appropriations Committee for recent votes on abortion and school voucher funding. “In considering the Financial...

Facing a projected deficit of $17 million during its 2012-13 fiscal year, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has announced that it is eliminating 45 positions, ending publication of its newspaper, and...

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a text-message campaign to “to provide a new way for people to join [its] national campaign for religious freedom.” “Across America,...

Local officials in the Aceh Singkil Regency in Indonesia have closed 20 churches and will likely demolish them. The officials cited a 2006 regulation requiring the approval of 60 local...

A Philadelphia jury has found Msgr. William Lynn guilty of endangering children. Msgr. Lynn, who served as secretary for clergy in the Philadelphia archdiocese for 12 years, becomes the first...

Addressing the Rio +20 conference on June 22, the Pope’s personal representative strongly emphasized that the human person must be the center of plans for sustainable development. Cardinal...

Catholics remain the largest single religious group in Australia, a new census shows. But the number of Australians with no religious affiliation now easily outstrips the number of Anglicans. The...

Many sincere people in Latin America are leaving the Catholic Church for Protestant groups, not because of doctrinal differences but because they do not find enough support for their spiritual...

Pope Benedict XVI praised the work of an Italian organization to promote family farms, during a private audience on June 22. The Pope applauded the efforts of the group, Coldiretti, that to...

The Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, has emerged from bankruptcy, having completed a reorganization of its finances that was approved by a federal court in 2008. The Davenport diocese filed for...

Writing for First Things, Father Thomas Berg, a former member of the Legion of Christ, argues that the troubled religious order cannot be reformed. Father Berg says that even after the Vatican...

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone called upon international leaders to provide free treatment for AIDS victims, in a June 22 address the 8th international AIDS conference. “Let us ensure that AIDS...

Writing for Crisis, Father George William Rutler welcomes the Fortnight for Freedom initiative as an overdue Catholic reaction against a long trend toward secularization. He writes: If Fidel...

Some Italian newspapers report that the Vatican will pass a new European test of transparency in financial transfers; others say that the "Moneyval" test will find fault with the Vatican's...

Authorities in the Communist nation of Laos have dismissed two security officials following their conversion to Christianity. “The Phin district military command discharged Khamsorm and Tonglai...

In his weekly editorial, the director of the Holy See Press Office remembered refugees who died “during their dramatic journeys to escape persecution, to escape human rights violations, to escape...

Togo’s bishops decried the decision by police to conduct a violent raid on a church in Lomé, the nation’s capital, after protesters took refuge there. The “sacrilegious act,” which included the...

At a Mass that opened the US bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom religious liberty campaign, Archbishop William Lori said that St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher are models for the individual Catholic...

Fernando Lugo, a former bishop who was laicized upon his election as Paraguay’s president in 2008, was impeached and removed from office by the nation’s legislature on June 22 following conflicts...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 23 with his top aides to exchange thoughts on the fallout from the ‘Vatileaks’ scandal. The Pope on Saturday morning with the heads of the offices of the Roman...

The Vatican has appointed an American journalist as “communicators advisor” to the Secretariat of State, with responsibility for shaping the Vatican’s media message. Greg Burke, a Fox News...

Loans to impoverished countries can aggravate those nations’ problems, the Vatican’s representatives warned a UN meeting on human rights. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s permanent...

Greek Orthodox officials in Thessalonika decried plans for a Gay Pride march, and encouraged residents to join in protests of the event this past weekend. Calling the event “unacceptable for the...

In a new document on fostering vocations to the priesthood, the Vatican plots a strategy for counteracting the rise of secularization in the Western world and encouraging a new appreciation for...

As the Church observed the feast of St. John the Baptist on June 24, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that “John the Baptist is the only saint for whom the liturgy celebrates the day of birth.” "This...

As he concluded his Sunday Angelus audience on June 24, Pope Benedict XVI asked the faithful “to accompany me with their prayers” as he visits earthquake victims in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region on...

Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will step down before the end of June, according to the Vatican Insider. Cardinal Levada, who at 76 is...

In an analysis written for Crisis magazine, Anthony Esolen notes the necessary connection between freedom and virtue, and reaches a sobering realization: “The horrible secret is that the American...

Pope Benedict XVI brought a message of comfort to earthquake victims in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy during a morning visit on June 26. Arriving by helicopter from Rome in the morning, the...

Paolo Gabriele, the valet to Pope Benedict XVI who was arrested on May 23 in connection with the leaks of confidential papal documents, will remain in a secure room inside the Vatican. Gabriele...

The chairman of the US bishops’ committee on immigration has said that he is “encouraged” by a Supreme Court decision on Arizona’s strict immigration law, but remains concerned about a key provision...

Writing in the New York Daily News, Steve Wagner and Kim Daniels explore the practical impact of the Obama administration's decision to cut off federal funding for a program administered by the US...

The chief ecumenical officer of the Russian Orthodox Church has met with a leading figure in the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, in a gesture that suggests the Moscow patriarchate is seeking...

Lawyers for Msgr. William Lynn, who was convicted last week of endangering children, will ask a Philadelphia court to allow him to live under house arrest pending a likely appeal. Judge Teresa...

The Vatican has announced the resignation of an Argentine bishop who was caught in compromising photos with an attractive young woman. Bishop Fernando Maria Bargallo of Merlo-Moreno resigned at...

The Diocese of Calgary is under mounting pressure from Canadian activists to allow immunizations in Catholic schools to guard against a sexually transmitted disease. A group called HPV Calgary is...

P. A. Sangma, a prominent Catholic politician in India, has shocked fellow Christians by absolving the Hindu-nationalist BJP party of involvement in the anti-Christian violence that rocked the...

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed an American prelate, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, to the newly created post of vice president of the Ecclesia Dei commission. The appointment underlines the Pope’s...

The Vatican on June 25 announced a series of important appointments to positions on the Roman Curia. Archbishop Augustine Di Noia was named to the newly created post of vice-president of the...

Finding a “paradigm shift” in American attitudes toward the public role of religious faith, the head of the Knights of Columbus has argued that Catholic can make a crucial contribution to restoring...

Writing for Crisis, Gerard Bradley argues that if the Obama contraceptive mandate is never imposed—either because the Supreme Court rules the health-care mandate unconstitutional, or because Obama...

Pope Benedict XVI has been presented with an electric car, with the manufacturers—NWG auto company, an Italian firm—lauding the Pope’s commitment to protection of the environment. The NWG Zero,...

Leaders of the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry (CALGM) have refused to sign an oath promising to uphold Catholic teaching, casting doubt on the group’s continued existence as an...

Egypt's newly elected president, Mohammed Morsi, met on June 26 with a group of Catholic leaders, seeking to reassure them that Christians will not suffer under his leadership. He had met with a...

Continuing his series of talks on the prayers of St. Paul, the Pope spoke to his midday audience on the Letter to the Philippians. Observing that it was written near the end of St. Paul’s life, as...

The Vatican has announced a change in the ritual in which new archbishops will receive the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The pallium is a thin white...

Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, Alberta, has fired back at critics who, he said, “purposely misrepresent” the policies of the diocese in their calls for Catholic schools to inoculate girls with the...

Continuing his high-profile leadership of the US bishops' "Fortnight for Freedom" campaign, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore--who heads the US bishops' committee on religious freedom--has...

The board of the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), met in Rome on June 27 to begin the search for a new chief executive. The board--which had dismissed the IOR’s president,...

Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has announced that priests who support a “Call to Disobedience” cannot serve as the heads of local deaneries. But the dissident priests continue to serve as...

A Philadelphia judge has indicated that she is prepared to release Msgr. William Lynn from prison, allowing him to remain under house arrest pending his sentencing, if certain conditions are...

Queen Elizabeth II made two unprecedented gestures during a visit to Northern Ireland on June 26 and 27: stopping in a Catholic church and shaking hands with a former commander of the Irish...

L’Osservatore Romano profiles Greg Burke, the American newsman who has been named “communications advisor” to the Vatican Secretariat of State. Among the interesting items in the short feature is a...

Father Frank Pavone, the president of Priests for Life, has won at least a partial victory in a conflict with his bishop over his leadership of the pro-life group. Bishop Patrick Zurek of...

The Vatican has announced the prayer intentions of Pope Benedict XVI for July 2012. The Pope’s general intention is “That everyone may have work in safe and secure conditions.” His missionary...

In an unusual test of China’s rigid “one child” policy, a group of parents are asking for compensation because when their sole child died they were left without offspring. The parents argue that the...

An Italian priest who was killed by the Mafia in 1993 has been recognized by the Vatican as a martyr for the faith. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced on June 28 that Father...

Archbishop Fulton Sheen has been declared “venerable,” and may now be beatified if a miracle is attributed to his intercession. The Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced on June...

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has released a series of decrees advancing the causes of candidates for beatification and canonization. Among the more notable cases, the Vatican...

Milan’s beloved cathedral, the Duomo, might collapse if the region is hit by an earthquake, the building’s administrators have warned. The spires of the Duomo shifted during the earthquake that...

The US Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of President Obama’s sweeping health-care reform legislation. Writing for the majority in a hotly contested 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John...

Pope Benedict XVI will remain neutral when his native Germany challenges Italy in the semifinal round of the Euro Cup soccer competition on June 28, the Pope’s spokesman told reporters. Msgr....

Chinese authorities have postponed plans to ordain a Catholic bishop without Vatican approval, the AsiaNews service reports. The Catholic Patriotic Association had planned to ordain Father Joseph...

Pope Benedict XVI met on June 28 with a delegation of Orthodox prelates, who were in Rome to join him in celebrating the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. Each year the Ecumenical Patriarchate of...

Speaking at a Washington conference on religious freedom, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna challenged Americans to protect the Christians living in Islamic countries. “The Christians and...

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has responded sharply to criticism from a liberal political group. The USCCB issued a media advisory countering a memo that had been circulated by...

A Virginia woman has filed a lawsuit against the Diocese of Arlington, Bishop Paul Loverde, and Human Life International (HLI), charging that they were negligent in allowing sexual abuse by Father...

On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI remarked that the strong ties between the two saints illustrate “a new way of being brothers, lived according to the Gospel.” Sts. Peter and...

The superior general of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) said that the traditionalist group has reached “the point of departure” in negotiations toward reconciliation with the Holy See. In a...

Authorities in the Netherlands suspect that the head of a Catholic institution caring for disabled boys in the early 1950s may have been responsible for the deaths of up to 37 patients. An...

The number of Irish women staying at home to raise their children has been dropping steadily, at a rate of about 10,000 per year, a new study shows. The latest Irish census found 230,645 married...

Despite more than a year of regular protests by pro-life activists, a Catholic hospital in Barcelona continues to schedule abortions, the LifeSite News agency reports. Last year Cardinal Lluis...

A Pakistani archbishop who was scheduled to receive the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on June 29 was forced to cancel his planned trip to Rome when he was hospitalized with...

After Italy defeated Germany in a Euro Cup soccer match on June 28, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone called Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to pass along congratulations from Pope Benedict...

On the 20th anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Planned Parenthood v. Casey case, Michael Stokes Paulsen makes the argument that the Casey decision is “the most reprehensible act...

In Crisis, Howard Kainz summarizes the case for skepticism about the claims of Marian apparitions at Medjugorje. He concludes, with Bishop Ratko Peric, that the evidence not only fails to...

In a noteworthy interview with Catholic World Report, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, offers remarkably candid thoughts on religious freedom and the US bishops’ conflict with the...

A backgrounder in the Washington Post explains why the US Supreme Court’s decision on President Obama’s health-care reform legislation does not resolve the administration’s conflict with the...