Catholic News Service MCALLEN, Texas — At Sacred Heart Church in McAllen, members of the community, most of them volunteers at a respite center for immigrants at Sacred Heart parish hall, were invited to a special event by ABC News, but were not informed in advance of just how special that event …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In an extraordinary gesture for the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has extended to priests worldwide the authority to absolve women for the sin of abortion and has decreed the full validity during the year of the sacrament of confession celebrated by …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — “Do something to put a stop to the violence and oppression,” Pope Francis asked the international community after calling attention once again to the fate of persecuted Christians, especially in the Middle East. After reciting the Angelus Aug. 30, Pope Francis told …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Parents who juggle packed work and family schedules deserve a Nobel Prize in mathematics for doing something not even the most brilliant scientists can do: They pack 48 hours of activity into 24, Pope Francis said. “I don’t know how they do …

CNA/EWTN News Efforts to promote Catholic culture in the San Francisco archdiocese’s high schools and to agree on a contract acceptable for the schools’ teachers concluded on Wednesday with a new contract. The months-long dispute months drew protests, interference from activist groups, and the attention of wealthy critics of Catholic …

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — “Individual reflection and action is critical” when it comes to improving the conditions of workers in the United States and elsewhere, said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, in the U.S. bishops’ …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Drawing on the experience of the public exposition of the Shroud of Turin, Vatican officials are adopting a reservation system for pilgrims who want to cross the threshold of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica during the Year of Mercy. …

By Matt Hadro & Adelaide Mena CNA/EWTN News Warning: this article contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised. A new video in an investigative series on Planned Parenthood shows a former technician saying that she had once been traumatized by the experience of gathering tissue from an aborted baby whose heart …

By Elise Harris CNA/EWTN News VATICAN CITY — On Sunday Pope Francis said that the Eucharist is no mere symbol, but is in fact the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, which has the ability to transform our hearts and minds to be more like him. “The Eucharist is …

Catholic News Service SANTA FE, N.M. — The Catholic bishops of New Mexico in a joint statement welcomed a ruling by the state’s Court of Appeals that reversed a lower court’s approval of physician-assisted suicide. “The Catholic Church strongly believes that life is a gift from a loving God, which extends …