IMAGE: CNS photo/Ako Rasheed, Reuters By Dale Gavlak AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) — Iraqi Christians are cautiously welcoming the start of the battle for Mosul and the Ninevah Plain, their ancestral homeland of the past 14 centuries from which they were brutally driven out by the Islamic State group more than …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves ROME (CNS) — The heroism of Mexico’s newest saint, St. Jose Sanchez del Rio, should embolden the nation’s priests to continue their ministry with trust in God, said the vice postulator of the young saint’s cause. For priests in Mexico, especially those who …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The seven new saints of the church were holy not because of their own efforts but because of “the Lord who triumphs in them and with them,” Pope Francis said. Each one “struggled to the very end with all …

A statement from Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops WASHINGTON—At this important time in our nation’s history, I encourage all of us to take a moment to reflect on one of the founding principles of our republic – the freedom …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Too much of the political discourse during this election year “has demeaned women and marginalized people of faith,” the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Oct. 14. “This must change,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Continuing his monthly Year of Mercy visits to people in particularly vulnerable situations, Pope Francis spent an afternoon Oct. 14 at Rome’s SOS Children’s Village. The village, which includes five houses, attempts to provide a home-like atmosphere for children under …

IMAGE: CNS/Don Doll, S.J. By Carol Glatz ROME (CNS) — Jesuit Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, 67, a member of the Jesuits’ Venezuelan province, was elected the first non-European superior general of the Society of Jesus. The 212 voting delegates to the Jesuit general congregation elected Father Sosa Oct. 14. He …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For Cardinal-designate Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, one of nine children born to a family in Omaha, Nebraska, more than 40 years of priesthood have been filled with “Are you kidding me?” moments. Like Pope Francis, the archbishop of Chicago …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Joe Tosini believes that on the last day Jesus will judge people on whether they fed the hungry, clothed the naked and, especially, whether they loved one another, not on whether they were baptized with a sprinkling of water as …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Giorgio Onorati, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting a pilgrimage of Catholics and Lutherans from Germany, Pope Francis said he does not like “the contradiction of those who want to defend Christianity in the West, and, on the other hand, are against refugees and other …