By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Politics as service to the common good and the need to create spaces where citizens and migrants can meet and overcome fear were topics Pope Francis repeatedly returned to Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Arriving in Bologna mid-morning Oct. 1, Pope Francis went …

IMAGE: CNS photo/TV handout via Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Three and a half months after he was shot during an early morning baseball practice, Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise, the House majority whip, received thunderous applause and standing ovations from the House floor Sept. 28 where he attributed …

IMAGE: REUTERS By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Catholic bishops and other faith groups are objecting to reports that the Trump administration will limit the number of refugees the United States accepts to 45,000 for the upcoming fiscal year. It would be the lowest admission level for persons fleeing persecution …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — An arrest warrant has been issued in Canada for Msgr. Carlo Capella, the Vatican diplomat recalled from service in Washington in late August, who already was the subject of a Vatican criminal investigation involving child pornography. Police in Windsor, Ontario, issued a statement …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Given the strong divisions sparked and fueled by “fake news,” Pope Francis is highlighting the importance of truth in his message for World Communications Day. The message will call for studying the causes and consequences of baseless information and will promote “professional journalism,” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Lawmakers in Washington were urged to approve a bill introduced in Congress to ensure the fair and equal treatment for houses of worship damaged in natural disasters “by enabling them to seek aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” The chairmen of …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While encouraging Catholics to reach out to migrants and refugees, the Vatican is reaching out to governments as they struggle to work out international policies and principles for dealing with the large number of people fleeing violence and poverty. The …

IMAGE: CNS/La Civilta Cattolica By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Seeing, understanding and engaging with people’s real lives does not “bastardize” theology, rather it is what is needed to guide people toward God, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Colombia. “The theology of Jesus was the most real thing of …

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has launched a website to help parishes, clergy, and laypeople with Pope Francis’s “Share the Journey” campaign.   The two-year campaign launched on Sept. 27 in Vatican City at the pope’s weekly audience is aimed at “to promote encounters between people on …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas was rector of Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago in the 1990s when then-Cardinal Joseph Bernardin was falsely accused of sexually abusing a minor seminarian during his previous tenure as …