IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After a strong earthquake struck central Italy and with the early news reporting many deaths and serious damage, Pope Francis turned his weekly general audience Aug. 24 into a prayer service. While the pope and some 11,000 …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Pascal Rossignol/Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The murder of a priest in northern France, taken hostage with a handful of other faithful during a weekday morning Mass July 26, is another act of “absurd violence” added to too many stories of senseless violence and death, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Ting Shen, The Dallas Morning News handout via Reuters By David Sedeno DALLAS (CNS) — Religious and civic leaders called for peace after five Dallas law enforcement officers were killed July 7 when a sniper opened fire in downtown Dallas. “We have been swept up in the escalating …

Pope Francis named two experienced journalists — including its first female vice director — to lead the Vatican press office. Greg Burke, a native of St. Louis, succeeds Italian Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, who retires after 10 years as head of the Vatican press office, the Vatican announced July 11. …

In a 5-3 vote June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down restrictions on Texas abortion clinics that required them to comply with standards of ambulatory surgical centers and required their doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati pointed out in a press …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Andrew Gombert, EPA By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — With a tie vote June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Obama administration’s plan to temporarily protect more than 4 million unauthorized immigrants from deportation. The court’s 4-4 vote leaves in place a lower court injunction blocking the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Carlo Allegri, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis offered prayers for the families of the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, and expressed hope that people would find ways to identify and uproot “the causes of such terrible and absurd violence.” A …

CLEVELAND — Amid the anger, the attacks and the sometimes boisterous nature of this year’s presidential campaign, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is encouraging parishioners to remember that civility in politics is a virtue. To bring the point home, the archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Office has unveiled the “Civilize It” campaign, stressing …

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court May 16 sent the Zubick v. Burwell case, which challenges the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts. The justices’ unanimous decision, explained in a nine-page order, was based on the information that both sides submitted a week …

ROME — The leaders of the world’s communities of Catholic women religious were warned against accepting an “entitlement creep” that numbs them from confronting poverty and environmental destruction. At the opening session of a triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General in Rome, U.S. Sister Carol Zinn, a a member …