Catholic News Service

The Catholic Church and Catholic agencies that work with migrants and refugees around the world are called to educate, advocate and seek alternative host countries in the face of a growing "refusal to welcome" newcomers, as the Vatican secretary of state defined the situation.

Christians must let go of resentments and forgive those who have wronged them so that they may experience God's forgiveness, said Pope Francis.

A Melbourne court began a month-long hearing to see if a top Vatican official would stand trial on decades-old charges of sexual abuse, which he consistently denied.

Listening, playing and having an afternoon snack, Pope Francis spent time March 2 at a group home for women prisoners with small children.

Pope Francis has decreed that Latin-rite Catholics around the world will mark the feast of "the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church" on the Monday after Pentecost each year.

The fuller participation of women in decision-making in the Catholic Church is a continuing process, Cardinal Kevin Farrell said after the presentation of "A Pope Francis Lexicon."

Two religious communities have withdrawn shareholder resolutions filed with Midwest electric utilities after the companies announced they would publish climate risk assessment reports.

Pope Francis has expressed strong support for the canonization of Fr. Rutilio Grande, the martyred Jesuit who is said to have inspired Blessed Oscar Romero.

An Irish bishop, John McAreavey of Dromore, resigned March 1 after increased criticism over how he dealt with revelations of an abusive priest.

In a Feb. 28 open letter to President Donald Trump and members of Congress, Jesuit Father Michael Sheeran, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, urged U.S. leaders to listen to the teens who survived the Parkland, Florida, school shooting and help them "fix this" plague of gun violence in our country.

Bishop Dennis Sullivan of Camden sat at a round table as 16 individuals made their way into the conference room.

Pope Francis named two longtime Vatican officials, Msgr. Alfred Xuereb and Msgr. Jose Bettencourt, as apostolic nuncios and elevated both to the rank of archbishop.

Pope Francis will visit Geneva in June, Andre Simonazzi, spokesman for the Swiss Federal Council, confirmed Feb. 28 

The Catholic bishops of Alaska have released a pastoral letter affirming that all Catholic moral teachings stem from the foundational belief in the dignity and sanctity of every human life.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of 75-year-old Bishop Joseph Pepe of Las Vegas and has named Bishop George Thomas of Helena, Montana, to succeed him.

In the 5-3 ruling, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that required periodic bond hearings for immigrants held in custody with U.S. immigration officials.

A Ghanaian bishop urged Catholic leaders from Africa to use Pope Francis' environmental encyclical "Laudato Si'" as the basis of their work and to encourage others involved in ecological work to do the same.

The German bishops' conference continues to develop its recent decision to allow non-Catholic spouses in mixed denomination marriages to receive Communion in limited cases.

God asks so little of people and yet, he gives so much in return, Pope Francis said.

The Supreme Court heard a case Feb. 26 that could erode the rights of labor unions at government workplaces.