Catholic News Service

The chairmen of three U.S. bishops' committees welcomed a proposed rule aimed at clarifying religious protections that may be invoked by federal contractors, including faith-based organizations.

Weeks after devastating floods affected millions and killed more than 100 people in Bangladesh, many families are reeling from a lack of aid as the country suffers an outbreak of waterborne diseases.

Thousands of pro-life supporters demonstrated in the streets of Sydney, expressing their opposition to a bill in the New South Wales state parliament that would permit abortion until birth for any reason.

The apostolic nunciature in Chile announced that the Vatican has opened an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse against retired Archbishop Bernardino Pinera Carvallo of La Serena, who is the uncle of Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

The Field Hospital: "Esperanza" is Spanish for "hope" and Ursuline Sr. Mary Eileen Boyle, 70, who founded the program, has helped inspire hope in the lives of hundreds of women and men who learned in-demand skills and found employment in the sewing industry and beyond.

The Trump administration has moved to cast aside an agreement that previously limited the amount of time the government could detain migrant children.

Indian police arrested six suspected members of a hardline Hindu group for attacking 40 Catholics taking part in a 280-mile pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in Velankanni in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Christians who focus more on being superficially close to the church rather than care for their fellow brothers and sisters are like tourists who wander around aimlessly, Pope Francis said.

A grand jury returned a nine-count indictment of rape against a Cincinnati archdiocesan priest Aug. 19 for crimes committed when he was a parish music director, prior to ordination.

Francis Chronicles: Popular movements can spark the change needed to ensure a future that is no longer in the hands of elites and powerful people, but includes the poor who have the inalienable right to a life of dignity, Pope Francis said.

Calling it "a backdoor asylum ban," more than 250 faith leaders and organizations called for an end to the Trump administration's policy to turn away asylum-seekers if they don't first seek protection in countries along their way to the U.S.

The executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, himself a Catholic, to stay the Aug. 22 execution of Gary Ray Bowles.

Christians must not be hypocrites, Pope Francis said.

A Catholic high school in the Diocese of Charleston is boosting security and stepping up diversity training after expelling two students tied to racist videos and threats against the institution.

Retired Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany said in a statement Aug. 16 he "never sexually abused anyone" and is taking a voluntary leave of absence from the Diocese of Albany to deal with the allegations.

A Capuchin Franciscan priest was found guilty Aug. 15 of four counts of child sexual abuse stemming from when he served as a parochial vicar at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington.

Leading five seminarians on an eight-week summer service program largely through Appalachia and South America, Conventual Franciscan Fr. Michael Lasky saw a new awareness rising in the young men's minds.

Attorneys for Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston released a statement Aug. 14 saying that the allegations of sexual abuse of a minor levied against him are "provably false."

Bishops, nuns, priests and residents of the Amazon basin met in Colombia's capital city in mid-August to prepare for a special Synod of Bishops for the Amazon this fall at the Vatican.

Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego gathered all 2,500-plus diocesan employees for the first time in its history to announce an expansion of the fight against the sexual abuse of children not just within the local church but in the greater society.