In a 5-3 vote June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down restrictions on Texas abortion clinics that required them to comply with standards of ambulatory surgical centers and required their doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati pointed out in a press …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM ARMENIA (CNS) — Catholics and other Christians not only must apologize to the gay community, they must ask forgiveness of God for ways they have discriminated against homosexual persons or fostered hostility toward them, Pope Francis said. “I think …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden YEREVAN, Armenia (CNS) — Applying the common faith they professed publicly earlier in the day, Pope Francis and Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Karekin II urged common action on behalf of persecuted Christians, welcome for refugees and defense of the family. The pope and the Oriental …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VAGHARSHAPAT, Armenia (CNS) — Recognizing that the church of Christ is one and that Christian divisions are a “scandal” to the world, Pope Francis and Armenian Apostolic Catholicos Karekin II offered their faithful the example of praying and working together. Approaching the end of …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden GYUMRI, Armenia (CNS) — Acts of love and kindness must be a Christian’s “calling card,” the characteristic that identifies them more than anything, Pope Francis told Catholics in northern Armenia. Traveling June 25 to Gyumri, a city with a significant Catholic population and one …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden YEREVAN, Armenia (CNS) — In silence and in prayer while a mournful hymn was sung, Pope Francis formally paid tribute to the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915-18. Visiting the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial, a monument to the martyrs, Pope Francis wrote …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeff Bruno, The Monitor By Patrick T. Brown TRENTON, N.J. (CNS) — “What’s the point of working so hard in school if you’re going to end up cutting grass?” Those words stick with Jose Aguilar two decades later. He was sitting in a New Jersey classroom, a teenager …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters By Cindy Wooden YEREVAN, Armenia (CNS) — A solid, sorrow-tested Christian faith gives believers the strength to overcome even the most horrific adversity, forgive one’s enemies and live in peace, Pope Francis said. Arriving in Armenia June 24, Pope Francis went straight to the twin …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Andrew Gombert, EPA By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — With a tie vote June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Obama administration’s plan to temporarily protect more than 4 million unauthorized immigrants from deportation. The court’s 4-4 vote leaves in place a lower court injunction blocking the …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO ARMENIA (CNS) — Commenting on the peace agreement reached in Colombia, Pope Francis hailed the end of “more than 50 years of war and guerilla warfare and so much bloodshed.” Pope Francis told reporters flying with him to Armenia …