By HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (CNS) — Bishop Mark L. Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown committed the Pennsylvania diocese to be transparent in its efforts related to the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and to make public the names of all priests found to have a credible allegation of abuse against them and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in its first abortion case in nine years March 2 in a challenge by Texas abortion clinics to a 2013 state law that requires them to comply with standards of ambulatory surgical …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano v By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Go to confession. Soon. For Pope Francis, the Year of Mercy is all about sharing the experience of God’s mercy with others. But first, he wants people to experience it themselves, in the confessional. Lent is the perfect …

By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God’s mercy can be understood only by someone who has an open heart and recognizes his or her sins, Pope Francis said. Unfaithfulness to God “hardens the heart, it closes the heart,” the pope said March 3 during the Mass in the …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Speaking out against exploitation and unfair wages for workers, Pope Francis told benefactors to forget about donating money to the church if their earnings came from mistreating others. “Please, take your check back and burn it,” he said to applause. …

IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec By ALTOONA, Pa. (CNS) — Hundreds of children were sexually abused over at least 40 years by priests and other religious leaders in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, a statewide grand jury found. At least 50 priests or religious leaders were involved in the abuse and diocesan leaders …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Leaders of faith communities in Baltimore, seeking healing and unity a year after the death of Freddie Gray, carried the pain and the hopes of their faithful to the Vatican, asking Pope Francis to bless their work. When Archbishop William E. Lori of …

By SYDNEY (CNS) — For a third consecutive day, a top Vatican official gave testimony to an Australian commission about what he knew of the church’s reassignment of abusive priests. The focus of Cardinal George Pell’s testimony to Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse March 2 …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Carol Zimmermann BALTIMORE (CNS) — For Father Leo Patalinghug, faith and food go hand in hand, or in cooking terms, they blend; there is no trick to folding one into the other. “The idea of food in faith is implicit in our Scriptures.It’s implicit in …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jim West By WASHINGTON (CNS) — A new report on U.S. women religious said that religious life is becoming not only more multiethnic but more international as well. The report, “Understanding U.S. Catholic Sisters Today,” said that of all women who entered religious life in the past 10 …