By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Three bishops, in a joint letter to the measure’s sponsor, voiced their support of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, which would permit social service agencies to refuse on religious grounds to provide adoption or foster services for households headed by same-sex couples. The bishops, who …

By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Three bishops, in a joint letter to the measure’s sponsor, voiced their support of the Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act, which would permit social service agencies to refuse on religious grounds to provide adoption or foster services for households headed by same-sex couples. The bishops, who …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy John E. Kozar By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — The next few months will determine whether Iraqi Christians can return to their homes in areas where Islamic State had been routed, according to Msgr. John E. Kozar, international president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Msgr. …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A French biblical scholar not only wrote the meditations to guide Pope Francis’ 2017 celebration of the Via Crucis at Rome’s Colosseum, she also designed her own set of Bible-based Stations of the Cross. Pope Francis asked Anne-Marie Pelletier to share her reflections …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Barbara Fraser By Barbara J. Fraser HUARAZ, Peru (CNS) — A grim-faced Pontius Pilate stares straight ahead, while Jesus, bound with rope, stands beside him, head down. Jesus turns a tortured face heavenward as he falls for the first time under the weight of a stone cross. Mary …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite recent and repeated terrorist attacks against Egypt’s minority Christian communities, Pope Francis will not cancel his visit to Egypt. “The pope’s trip to Egypt proceeds as scheduled,” Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service by email April 10. The pope is …

By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — On the eve of Palm Sunday, Pope Francis gave young people several missions: to ask their grandparents what their dreams were; to work to make those dreams reality; and to let their bishops and the pope himself know what they need from the church. …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Jesus does not ask that people only contemplate his image, but that they also recognize and love him concretely in all people who suffer like he did, Pope Francis said. Jesus is “present in our many brothers and sisters who …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Stephen Brashear, Northwest Catholic By Anna Weaver SHORELINE, Wash. (CNS) — Among Mary Larson’s Shoreline living-room pictures is a small photo of a man with furrowed eyebrows and a full white beard. His name is James, but when Larson knew him, he was better known as “The Professor.” …

By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — Throughout the U.S., cities, states, places of worship, university campuses and religious communities have been publicly declaring themselves as places of “sanctuary” for migrants, particularly for those who have voiced fears and worries about stepped-up deportation efforts from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known …