IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec By Nancy Wiechec PHOENIX (CNS) — As triple-digit temperatures hit the desert Southwest, charities are working overtime to keep homeless and vulnerable people safe. “This is our winter,” said Shannon Clancy, chief philanthropy officer for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix. “Out West when …

IMAGE: CNS/UCAnews By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican said it has had no direct contact with Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai, who apparently wrote a blog post in June that gave many people the impression he had recanted an earlier decision to abandon the Chinese …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Tyler Orsburn BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CNS) — It was the stories of how his teachers, Mexican-born religious brothers, had suffered persecution that steered Marist Brother Paul Phillipp of south Texas, now 92, to his religious vocation. Reared on a farm some 25 miles west of Brownsville, …

By WASHINGTON (CNS) — A federal agency has determined that California can continue to demand that all health plans under the jurisdiction of the state’s Department of Managed Health Care — “even those purchased by churches and other religious organizations” — cover elective abortions for any reason. The coverage includes …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said he would travel to Armenia June 24-26 to promote closer bonds with the Armenian Orthodox church, honor the Armenian people’s steadfast faith in the face of tragedy and support them in their efforts to build a peaceful future. In a …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Graham Lacdao, Chapter of St Paul’s By Dale Gavlak LONDON (CNS) — As Europe held its breath on whether Britain would vote to remain or exit the European Union, the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, reported that numbers fleeing war and persecution have soared four times over the past …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to retire and live a life fully dedicated to prayer represents one of the most important lessons he gives the world’s priests, Pope Francis said. In retirement, Pope Benedict shows “in an even …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Flanked by a group of refugees, Pope Francis appealed to Christians to care for and welcome those whom society often excludes. “Today I’m accompanied by these young men. Many people think they would have been better off if they …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World By Joyce Duriga CHICAGO (CNS) — When members of the Chicago Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach gathered the evening of June 19 for their regular weekly Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, they had as their focus the victims of the …

By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Use of the death penalty is an unacceptable practice that sows vengeance and does not bring justice to the victims of crime, Pope Francis said. No matter how serious the crime, to kill a convicted person is “an offense to the inviolability …