IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Mcerlane, EPA By Michael Kelly DUBLIN (CNS) — Northern Ireland’s Catholic bishops urged Massgoers to support candidates opposed to legalizing abortion in elections to the region’s power-sharing assembly May 5. In a wide-ranging pastoral statement ahead of the polls, the bishops also urged Catholics to lobby lawmakers …

IMAGE: CNS files By NEW YORK (CNS) — Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan, an early critic of U.S. military intervention in Vietnam who for years challenged the country’s reliance on military might, died April 30. He was 94. The author of several books of poetry and one of the first Catholic …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For peace in the family, community and nation, people need to recognize their faults and ask forgiveness, Pope Francis told thousands of pilgrims, including hundreds of soldiers, sailors and police officers from around the world. “In your families, in the …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Gaby Maniscalco ROME (CNS) — The Trevi Fountain, a Rome landmark, was lit up in red April 29 in a graphic commemoration of the thousands of modern Christians martyred for their faith. The event was sponsored by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Daphnie Vega UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — While religious freedom in much of the Middle East is under siege and the civil war in Syria seems to have no end in sight, Carl Anderson, CEO of the Knights of Columbus, and others called the United …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Moral and ethical concerns must guide medical research so it will always be at the service of protecting human life and dignity, Pope Francis said. In that way, education and research can strive “to serve higher values, such as solidarity, …

By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Italian authorities arrested six suspects who allegedly received orders from the Islamic State terrorist group to attack the Vatican and the Israeli embassy in Rome. The arrests made in Lombardy and Piedmont April 28 were the result of a joint operation coordinated …

IMAGE: CNS/courtesy Vatican Observatory By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Of the many momentous or menial tasks women religious perform, one of the better-kept secrets has been the role of four Sisters of the Holy Child Mary who were part of a global effort to make a complete map …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Yuri Gripas, Reuters By Kurt Jensen WASHINGTON (CNS) — House Speaker Paul Ryan apologized for his earlier criticism of recipients of government benefits as “takers and makers,” and said Republicans strive for a country that is “open, diverse, dynamic” in a speech at Georgetown University. Ryan’s one-hour talk …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Nancy O’Brien WASHINGTON (CNS) — Many paths led Richard Doerflinger into pro-life work. And now his path is taking him into retirement as associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities and eventually across the country to Washington state. Doerflinger, a 63-year-old native …