IMAGE: CNS photo/Colleen Rowan, The Catholic Spirit) By Colleen Rowan WHEELING, W.Va. (CNS) — West Virginia leads the nation in drug overdose death rates. With an average of 57.8 deaths per 100,000 residents, the state’s drug fatality rate was nearly three times higher than the national average of 21.7 deaths. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians are called to follow the spirit of the beatitudes by comforting the poor and the oppressed, especially migrants and refugees who are rejected, exploited and left to die, Pope Francis said. The least ones, "who have been …

IMAGE: CNS By Jennifer Willems PEORIA, Ill. (CNS) — With "overwhelming joy," Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria announced July 6 that Pope Francis had approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. "Now that the miracle has been confirmed by Pope Francis, the Diocese of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — At age 9, growing up in Cameroon, Evelyn Chumbow had dreams of coming to the United States, thinking she’d live like the characters in TV shows such as "The Cosbys" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," which she believed …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Vatican July 4, and the two discussed the ongoing wars in Eastern Ukraine and in Syria, the Vatican said. Russia plays a major role in both conflicts. At the end of the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia reminded clergy, religious and the faithful what a blessing it is to be an American this Independence Day. In a July 3 statement, he thanked the Lord for allowing his ancestors …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Chicago Catholic By Joyce Duriga CHICAGO (CNS) — A few prayers to Blessed John Henry Newman became a "constant dialogue" and then a desperate response to an emergency for Melissa Villalobos of Chicago. Her healing, which saved her life and the life of her unborn child, was …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rus VanWestervelt, Catholic Review By Rus VanWestervelt ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (CNS) — Simon Wong’s 40-hour journey to the ChristLife National Training Conference began at his parish, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit — in Penang, Malaysia. "The 40 hours was a blessing," Wong said of multiple jet flights, spurred …

IMAGE: CNS photo/David Agren By David Agren TENOSIQUE, Mexico (CNS) — Maribel — a Garifuna woman from Honduras and mother of six children, ages 6 months to 16 years — only wanted to work. She baked coconut bread and sold it the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, until a …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy By Doreen Abi Raad BEIRUT (CNS) — After enduring persecution, violence and uprooting, a group of Iraqi religious and laypeople are on the path to healing. "They are suffering, in their minds and in their souls," said Melkite Father Gabriel Hachem, part of a team from …