Catholic News Service

People should fast from gossiping and spreading hearsay as part of their Lenten journey, Pope Francis said.

The women housed at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton, the only women's prison in the state of New Jersey, seem to have the cards stacked against them.

The German bishops' conference elected a woman as general secretary during a virtual assembly that turned into a crisis meeting focused on the church's handling of sex abuse.

President Joe Biden announced Feb. 24 a reversal of a 2020 proclamation by the Trump administration that sought to keep those applying for permanent residency cards, popularly known as green cards, out of the country because of the pandemic.

The need for "deep, spiritual conversion of all members of the church stands out" as a key theme of the "instrumentum laboris," the working document for Australia's Plenary Council, due to begin in October, said one of its authors.

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said Feb. 22 a lawsuit filed against him in New Jersey Superior Court over a claim of abuse that allegedly occurred decades ago "is defamatory."

Several former students told a Vatican court that they experienced an "unhealthy" environment at a minor seminary inside the Vatican.

Pope Francis joined the people of Italy in mourning the murders of the country's ambassador to Congo and an Italian officer in his security detail, both young men the pope described as "servants of peace and law."

If a nation's moral character can be measured by how it treats its children, the United States is not doing well. 

About 60 pro-life leaders signed a letter objecting to confirmation of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden's nominee to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

H.R. 5 would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, the credit system and jury duty. It would also provide for taxpayer funding of abortion and limit freedom of speech, the bishops said in a Feb. 23 letter to all members of Congress.

For Jesus' parents, "answering God's call meant their whole lives were turned upside down," not unlike the events of the past year, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez said Feb. 21 at the close of the all-virtual 2021 Religious Education Congress.

The Virginia General Assembly passed a final version of a bill that will abolish the death penalty in the state Feb. 22. There is expected to be a public signing ceremony with Gov. Ralph Northam in April. Legislation that would expand abortion coverage in Virginia's health exchange also is likely to be signed by Northam, who supports legal abortion.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills' Feb. 12 executive order that she explained would expand limits on church gatherings does little to help the state's Catholic churches, Bishop Robert P. Deeley of Portland said.

President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a speech from the White House Feb. 22, the day the nation reached, and then passed, what he called the "truly grim, heartbreaking milestone" of 500,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19.

An African faiths environmental institute is urging the Gates Foundation to support natural methods to help Africa achieve food sufficiency and protect its environments instead of funding green revolution technologies and genetically modified seeds.

Pope Francis told attendees at this year's all-virtual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress to look for hope amid the pandemic in the very theme of their gathering: "Proclaim the Promise!"

In support of the city's Burmese population following the military coup in Myanmar, three Catholic churches hosted a prayer service Feb. 11 at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.

Christians must never engage in dialogue with the devil, but instead must fight against temptations with the same spiritual weapons Jesus used in the desert, Pope Francis said.

Ongoing dialogue between Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond and Kevin Bourgeois, the leader of the New Orleans chapter of SNAP, has led to a significant broadening and restructuring of Archdiocese of New Orleans' response to abuse survivors.