IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeffrey Arguedas, EPA By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis often speaks against “the scourge of drug trafficking” and its effects. Here are some examples: “The scourge of drug-trafficking, which favors violence and sows the seeds of suffering and death, requires of society as a whole an act …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As discussions continue between Vatican officials and leaders of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, Pope Francis met at the Vatican with Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the society. The Vatican press office confirmed April 4 that the meeting …

IMAGE: CNS By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pro-life advocates expressed dismay with new Food and Drug Administration guidelines that effectively expand how pregnant women can use RU-486, a drug that induces abortion. The new rules, announced March 30, allow a woman to use RU-486 — known generically as mifepristone …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When people do not want to say “yes” to God, they usually do not say “no,” they just hide like Adam and Eve did after they sinned, Pope Francis said. “Today is the feast of ‘yes,’” the pope said during his early morning …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis asked Catholic dioceses around the world to set up a permanent memorial of the Year of Mercy by establishing a hospital, home for the aged or school in an under-served area. Celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday with an evening …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Immediately after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell March 23 challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement, the second-guessing began about how the court will rule. The 108-page transcript of the arguments was gleaned for …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Immediately after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell March 23 challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement, the second-guessing began about how the court will rule. The 108-page transcript of the arguments was gleaned for …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeffrey Bruno, EWTN By HANCEVILLE, Ala. (CNS) — With Mother Angelica having been essentially bedridden for 15 years following a series of strokes in 2001, staff at the Eternal Word Television Network and members of her order, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, had plenty of time to …

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien BALTIMORE (CNS) — As Canada prepares for the legalization of assisted suicide throughout the country in June and nearly half of the U.S. states take up some kind of legislative proposal on the topic this year, questions arise about its pastoral implications. What should a hospital …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rolex Dela Pena, EPA By Simone Orendain MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A Philippine archbishop is urging Catholics to heed the Ten Commandments before they head to the polls in May to vote for offices ranging from president to local village councilors. Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, who is …