Catholic News Service

The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a blow to the Trump administration's effort to end a program in March that protects young adults brought to the U.S. without legal permission as minors.

If people listen to Jesus and do as he urges them, they can be certain that he will see them through even the darkest times, Pope Francis told members of a Rome parish.

Calling the war in Syria "inhumane," Pope Francis called for an end to the fighting, immediate access to humanitarian aid for those in need and the evacuation of the injured and infirm.

Protesting several recent actions they described as a "systematic campaign ... against the churches and the Christian community in the Holy Land," the heads of Christian churches announced Feb. 25 they were closing of the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for an undisclosed period of time.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, has apologized for a tweet that sent Twitter tongues tweeting -- and accusing -- late Feb. 22 when he wished someone "Nighty-night, baby, I love you" on the public part of his feed.

The Catholic bishops of Texas praised Gov. Greg Abbott for stopping the execution of death-row inmate Thomas Whitaker shortly before he was to be put to death Feb. 22.

Pope Francis' call for a day of prayer and fasting for peace in war-torn countries like South Sudan and Congo is also a reminder for world leaders to protect their countrymen from violence and injustice, a Vatican official said. 

On the day Pope Francis designated for global prayers for peace in South Sudan and Congo, Catholic bishops in South Sudan said their leaders did not know how to make peace.

A Syrian Christian political leader has joined the growing ranks of international condemnation over violent attacks in Syria's northwestern area of Afrin and the Damascus enclave of Eastern Ghouta.

Maryland-based Bon Secours Health System and Mercy Health, with headquarters in Ohio, plan to merge by the end of the year, forming one of the country's largest health systems.

It's time to break free from fear, fake online personas and looking at the world through a digital screen display, Pope Francis told young people.

The Catholic Church in China registered 48,556 baptisms in 2017, according to a report by Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Kinshasha, Congo: Congo's Catholic bishops denounced attempts to discredit their church's leaders and demanded the government lift a ban on peaceful demonstrations.

A judge on a top Vatican tribunal was given a 14-month suspended sentence by an Italian court for possessing child pornography and sexual molestation. He then resigned his position on the Roman Rota, the tribunal.

Pope Francis announced at the end of a question-and-answer sessions with pastors in the Diocese of Rome that Blessed Paul VI would be canonized this year.

The yearning for one's soul to be quenched must not be confused with longing for worldly desires, a Portuguese priest told Pope Francis and senior members of the Roman Curia during their Lenten retreat.

When people are unable to love or accept a child with problems or illness, many times it's because they are too weak themselves to be able to bear someone else's vulnerabilities, Pope Francis told a group of children and young people who are wards of the state.

No physician should be forced to choose between violating his or her conscience and facing professional sanctions, said the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.

While it is true that the world is full of sin and sinful behavior, priests must learn to scrutinize the "signs of the times" for new trends and attitudes that are good and healthy and holy, Pope Francis told pastors from the Diocese of Rome.

The heads and patriarchs of Christian churches in Jerusalem strongly denounced the city of Jerusalem's plan to force churches to pay property taxes.