IMAGE: CNS photo/Junno Arocho Esteves By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Among the thousands of young altar servers braving the sweltering Rome heat, a group from the United States sat patiently in the shade of the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square waiting to take their seats. “Rome is …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters By Brian T. Olszewski RICHMOND, Va. (CNS) — As the first anniversary of violence stemming from protests and counter-protests regarding the removal of Confederate monuments from Charlottesville approached, Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond asked people to pray for justice, peace and an end to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — For his homilies on the weekend of July 21-22, Father Edward Looney, administrator of two rural Wisconsin parishes, planned to preach about ways to include God on summer vacation. His rough outline was scribbled on Post-it notes. But during the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Darren Pateman, AAP via Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Philip Wilson, who had been found guilty by an Australian court of failing to inform police about child sexual abuse allegations. The Vatican made the announcement July 30. Archbishop …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Mike Blake, Reuters By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — In public and behind the scenes of a court order that immigrant families separated by the U.S. government be reunited by the end of July 26, the Catholic Church, from its leadership to its charitable and advocacy organizations, worked …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vietnam News Agency via EPA By HANOI, Vietnam (CNS) — A prominent Catholic blogger and activist ended a two-week hunger strike in a Vietnamese prison after she met with visiting U.S. diplomats, local bloggers reported. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, 39, stopped her strike after the visit July 23, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Czar Dancel, Reuters By MANILIA, Philippines (CNS) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned the public during his third State of the Nation address July 23 that his two-year war on drugs would become even “more chilling” in the coming days. Earlier that day, a group of human rights …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Robert Duncan By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The last time a pope visited Ireland, the Constitution prohibited divorce, gay marriages were unthinkable, abortion was illegal and physical and sexual abuse at the hands of nuns and priests was a carefully hidden secret. That has all changed …

By Steve Larkin WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis has said that shepherds “should have the smell of the sheep.” For some bishops and their dioceses, that means going on Twitter. “Bishop (David A.) Zubik (of Pittsburgh) was very clear: If he can meet people in a particular way, he wants …

By BOSTON (CNS) — Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley called for “three specific actions” to immediately address allegations of sexual abuse of minors and “sexual improprieties” with seminarians made against Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, starting with “a fair and rapid adjudication of these accusations.” Second, there must be “an assessment …