Catholic News Service

Those in positions of authority, especially in the Catholic Church, would do well to remember that their responsibility is to serve those in their care and not exploit them for their own selfish interests, Pope Francis said.

This election year, in the midst of a global pandemic and with the Affordable Care Act about to be challenged for the third time before a Supreme Court that is in flux, it's no surprise health care is a bigger issue than it has been in previous presidential elections.

In a tweet just before 1 a.m. Oct. 2, the president announced he and the first lady had tested positive for COVID-19.

Catholic migrant ministries in Guatemala are attending to a caravan that formed in Honduras and is heading northward toward the border with Mexico.

The steep slope, appearing almost as a vertical line, is a stunning mark by the Trump administration on what was once a refugee program recognized around the world as a model to welcome the tyrannized and persecuted masses.

Pundits often dismiss "the Latino vote," saying Latinos don't vote uniformly and have members with a wide range of views. But both presidential candidates are courting Latino constituencies in battleground states.

Among the most pronounced differences between presidential candidates Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent, and Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger, are their stances on the environment.

Catholic Church officials in Russia criticized planned religious law changes that will require all clergy who studied abroad to retrain in a Russian college.

In a new apostolic letter, Scripturae Sacrae Affectus, Pope Francis said that even today, Christians can learn new things from the countless translations of the Bible that exist.

While staffers with Catholic Relief Services delivered needed supplies to far-flung parts of the globe, students at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied how the agency's missions of mercy could be done with fewer car emissions that contribute to a warming planet.

In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the world must aspire to be better and not return to its previous "sickened" normality of injustice, inequality and environmental degradation, Pope Francis said.

On Sept. 24, Providence Sr. Barbara Battista stood across the street from where her spiritual directee died just two days before.

As of Sept. 30, the city of San Francisco is allowing attendance for indoor worship to be 25% of the capacity of a house of worship, or up to 100 people, which follows the limit set by the state of California as part of its COVID-19 safety protocols.

Top officials at seven nationwide Catholic organizations called on congressional leaders and President Donald Trump to unite behind a new legislative package to "address the public health and economic crisis facing our country and the global community" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court, she will be the first Notre Dame Law School graduate to sit on the bench of the nation's highest court and the only sitting justice with a law degree not from Harvard or Yale.

Conversion is an ongoing process that relies on God's endless patience and grace, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis called for the use of dialogue — not weapons — for resolving the problems and conflict escalating in the Caucasus region.

Eight days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump announced Sept. 26 that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his nominee to fill that seat.

The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year's World Day for Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 27 is "Forced like Jesus Christ to flee," focusing on people displaced within the borders of their own country.

The Supreme Court denied the appeals of two federal death-row inmates in late September. On Sept. 22, it denied an appeal to postpone the execution of William LeCroy, who had argued that his execution should be postponed to allow his longtime lead attorney to attend. The attorney has leukemia and is vulnerable to COVID-19, so could not be present for health reasons during the pandemic.