Catholic News Service

In a step designed to quell ongoing controversies, the Vatican announced the appointment of a vicar for the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and Pope Francis conferred on him the personal title of archbishop.

Medical advancements do not help if they treat people as objects or when they are applied only to those people who are not considered a burden and "deserve" to be helped, Pope Francis said.

In 1990, Bessy Jovel traveled across three countries, sometimes on foot, sometimes in cargo trucks, sleeping in stuffy warehouses and banana fields, hungry and sweaty, en route to the border with her mother and almost 3-year-old sibling Johnny.

The 1919 "Bishops' Program for Social Reconstruction" was showcased in this year's Labor Day statement to demonstrate how so many of the issues the bishops touched upon a century ago in the wake of World War I's end still resonate in improving the conditions of workers today.

Catholic bishops in South Sudan praised the recent peace agreement for neighboring Sudan, which has experienced political turmoil since April, when the military ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The Field Hospital: As the sound of drums, tambourines and Swahili hymns reverberated through St. Andrew's Church, Elizabeth Muturi and fellow parishioners swayed their arms and hips, dancing down the aisle with the Book of Gospels raised behind them.

The Australian government is preparing to introduce the country's first religious freedom laws, but some senior Catholic clerics are concerned they may not go far enough.

The ordination of Bishop Anthony Yao Shun of Jining in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region was the first episcopal ordination in the country following the provisional agreement signed in 2018 between China and the Vatican.

While listening to and obeying God's word brings healing and comfort to those in need, it also can attract disdain and even hatred from others, Pope Francis said.

The bishops of the Archdiocese of Seattle reiterated the Catholic Church's opposition to assisted suicide in response to a news report about a man who used a fatal drug combination to end his own life under Washington state's Death with Dignity Act.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Missouri's ban on abortion on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy that was to take effect Aug. 28.

Indonesian police have arrested six terrorist suspects, two of whom have been linked to last year's bombings at three churches in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city.

Responding to criticism of notes he published about the roots of the clerical sexual abuse crisis, retired Pope Benedict XVI said the fact that the critiques barely mentioned God proved his point.

When Johnny Zokovitch started working for Pax Christi USA in 2001, he was tasked with connecting young people with the Catholic peace organization.

At a time when conflict and division dominate the world's headlines, people need to know there are a growing number of important initiatives to promote interreligious dialogue and understanding, Pope Francis said.

Wildfires raging in Bolivia and Brazil underscore the urgency of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon that Pope Francis has called for October, said Bishop Eugenio Coter of the apostolic vicariate of Pando in northern Bolivia.

A life marked by humility, faith and love determines whether Christians enter heaven, not who they know, Pope Francis said.

"Crying out to the world for solidarity," leaders of the Latin American bishops' council urged international action to save the Amazon rainforest as massive fires continued to burn.

Authorities have arrested a 56-year-old priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who is facing accusations that he stole more than $98,000 from a parish and used some of it to finance what the archdiocese says were "personal expenses of an inappropriate nature."