Catholic World News

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has sent condolences on behalf of Pope Francis following an Air Algérie plane crash in Mali that left 118 dead. The Pope assured the...

A day after Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said that “Pope Francis has told me that he is coming” to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September 2015, the director of the...

On July 26, Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to the southern Italian region of Campania and arrived by helicopter in Caserta, a city of 80,000. The visit to Caserta was the Pope’s sixth...

Pope Francis concluded his brief apostolic journey to Caserta on July 26 by celebrating evening Mass in the piazza in front of the city’s royal palace. Preaching about the parables of the...

Cardinal Francesco Marchisano died on July 27 at the age of 85. In a telegram of condolence, Pope Francis described him as “generous in his vocation as a priest and bishop, solicitous of the...

During his Sunday Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel from the Mass of the day (Mt. 13:44-52). “Whoever finds [the kingdom of God] has no doubts, he feels...

At the conclusion of his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis recalled that July 28 marks the centenary of the beginning of World War I. “As we remember this tragic event, I hope that the...

The Vatican has suspended priestly ordinations in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, according to multiple media reports. Following an investigation of the diocese led by Cardinal Santos...

Pope Francis apologized for Catholic cooperation in campaigns against Pentecostalists and Evangelicals, during a visit to a Protestant congregation in Caserta on July 28. The Pope was traveling...

At least five people were killed, and several others seriously injured, when a Catholic church was bombed in Kano, in northern Nigeria, on July 27. The explosion at St. Charles church came...

The family of an Italian Jesuit priest who was kidnapped in Syria has issued an appeal, as the anniversary of his disappearance arrives. Father Paolo Dell'Oglio was apparently captured near...

The move by former guerilla groups to form political parties is a step toward peace for Colombia, Bishop Julia Cesar Vidal Ortiz told the Fides news service. The bishop, who has served as a...

Pope Francis reflected on his youth, spoke about the importance of leisure to family life, and the brutality of warfare in a newly published interview. Speaking to the Argentine weekly Viva about...

The prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Eastern Churches condemned religious violence, and offered prayers for the embattled Christians of Iraq, as he presided at the Divine Liturgy on July 27...

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that member nations are not required to “grant access to marriage to same-sex couples,” in a complicated case involving a transgendered...

Prelates around the country have criticized recent court rulings declaring that the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman is unconstitutional. “Recent court decisions on...

Citing “your pain, humiliation and increased oppression,” the head of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference has expressed “our profound solidarity, our fervent prayers and our renewed...

The Holy See Press Office has released the remarks made by evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino during his July 28 meeting with Pope Francis in Caserta, Italy. As he introduced “my beloved...

A Roman-rite priest who was abducted by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on July 15 has been released, the Religious Information Service for Ukraine reported. Father Viktor Vonsovych...

The Holy See Press Office has officially announced the dates of Pope Francis’s apostolic journey to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The Pontiff will visit Sri Lanka from January 12-15 and the...

Chinese Communist officials have continued their campaign against Christian institutions in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Since January, the government has demolished 360 crosses or...

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the jihadist group that took over Mosul in June and subsequently expelled Christians from the city, has destroyed the mausoleum of St. George, the city’s...

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, renews his argument against changes in Church teaching on marriage, in a new book-length...

The government of France has offered asylum to Iraqi Christians who have been driven from their homes by Islamic militants. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that his government is...

An official of Caritas Jerusalem, the Catholic charitable agency, has compared destruction wrought by an Israeli offensive in Gaza to the devastation of World War II. Father Raed Abusahliah said...

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee owes roughly $14 million in legal fees connected with its filing for bankruptcy protection, the National Catholic Reporter has found. The legal fees-- which the...

A Filipino priest serving in a parish in Libya has warned that the lives of Christians are endangered in that country, the AsiaNews service reports. Father Amado Baranquel pointed to the case of...

Priests in the Diocese of Rockville Center, New York, have taken issue with the claim by Bishop William Murphy that talk about a priest shortage is “nonsense.” Bishop Murphy, in a recent blog...