IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Best family By Ed Langlois PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — On a crowded Portland commuter train May 26, a selfless Catholic father of four stepped forward to calm a tense situation. He was that kind of guy. Rick Best defended two women being accosted by a passenger yelling …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ very public friendship with and overtures to Pentecostal and evangelical leaders is a high-profile reflection of a relationship that already existed at the grass roots between Catholic charismatics and some of their Spirit-filled neighbors, leaders of the renewal …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Never speak, act or make a decision without first listening to the Holy Spirit, who moves, troubles and inspires the heart, Pope Francis advised. A cold and calculating heart that is closed to the Holy Spirit results in a faith that is “ideological,” …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he asked Pope Francis to help Canadians “move forward on a real reconciliation” with the country’s indigenous people “by issuing an apology” on behalf of the Catholic Church for its role in harming their communities. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Giorgio Perottino, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Condemning an economy that encourages speculation more than entrepreneurship, warning priests and religious that they share responsibility for the vocations crisis and telling young people they are right to be puzzled by nations that close their doors to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Reuters By CAIRO (CNS) — Christians in Egypt “are getting to this idea that we could be a martyr at any moment,” the spokesman for the nation’s Catholic bishops told Catholic News Service. The spokesman, Father Rafic Greiche, also lamented the number of children …

IMAGE: EPA By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — Worried about the fate of some of their students, more than 65 college presidents representing U.S. Catholic institutions asked for a meeting with the Secretary of Homeland Security to talk about immigration policy. “As leaders of Catholic colleges and universities, we are …

IMAGE: CNS/Tyler Orsburn By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget sent shivers through social service, education and environmental communities, prompting church leaders and advocates to question the administration’s commitment to people in need. The leaders repeated in interviews with Catholic News Service that …

CAIRO (CNS) — Masked assailants attacked a bus carrying Coptic Orthodox Christians on the way to St. Samuel Monastery in southern Egypt, killing at least 26 people, many of them children, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. “It is too early to say who is behind it, but certainly terrorists, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Ruthie Robison, Mississippi Catholic By Ruthie Robison DURANT, Miss. (CNS) — A downpour of rain didn’t dampen a dedication and blessing ceremony of a monument to honor the lives of Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill, who were slain in their Durant home Aug. 25, 2016. They were …