IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Norma Montenegro Flynn GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) — A video message from Pope Francis and a procession of Encuentro crosses representing all of the participating episcopal regions were the highlights during the first day of the National Fifth Encuentro gathering taking place Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine. …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Retired Pope Benedict XVI expressed his displeasure with the way a German cardinal publicly criticized his stepping down as pontiff, and he defended taking the title “pope emeritus.” In two private letters from the retired pope to German Cardinal Walter …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While God’s holy church is made up of sinners, it also has its share of hypocrites who love to cry “scandal” to point out the failings of others and make themselves appear pure, Pope Francis said at morning Mass. “The devil doesn’t have …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Father McGuire By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — To be a voice for victims of clerical sexual abuse, Father Brendan McGuire realized he had to come to terms with the abuse he suffered at the hands of a priest when he was 18. It was a secret …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pledging to “heal and protect with every bit of the strength God provides us,” the U.S. bishops’ Administrative Committee Sept. 19 outlined actions to address the abuse crisis, including approving the establishment of a third-party confidential reporting system for claims …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Bono, the lead singer of the Irish band U2, said he told Pope Francis that in Ireland “it looks as though the abusers are being more protected than the victims. And you could see the pain in his face.” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Honoring mothers and fathers means being grateful for the gift of life and Christians should never insult anyone’s parents, Pope Francis said. “Among us there is also the habit of saying awful things, even profanity. Please, never, never, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy LÕOsservatore Roman By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — When the levees broke in 2005 and Lakeview became Lake Pontchartrain, Katrina launched its mad-scientist experiment. What would three weeks of brackish and corrosive water, chemicals and mud do not only to St. Dominic Parish’s Aquinas Hall …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Diocese of St By Laura Ann Phillips PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CNS) — One year after Hurricanes Irma and Maria smashed through the Virgin Islands, people remain jittery about the rest of the 2018 hurricane season. “Everyone is extremely nervous and anxious about going through another hurricane without recovering …

IMAGE: CNS photo courtesy of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton By HOVE, England (CNS) — “The Moth has landed,” tweeted the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. The tweet Sept. 14 and a similar post on the diocesan Facebook page was meant to assure people that 60-year-old Bishop Richard Moth …