IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Although the number is not high, it is no longer “exceptional” to have priests turn down an appointment as bishop, said Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. Speaking Feb. 1 about the annual course his office …

By Joseph McAleer ROME (CNS) — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Rome’s Circus Maximus to protest against a proposed bill that would grant legal recognition to nonmarried heterosexual and homosexual couples and give them the right to adopt children. Although not officially sponsored by the Catholic Church or …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth RALEIGH, N.C. (CNS) — When Aida Sarkisian and her family left their home in Iraq for the U.S., it wasn’t because they wanted to. It was because their survival depended on it. The refugees received death threats as far back as 2006 in …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By David Agren VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mercy and mission have a close relationship that calls all Christians to be missionaries who share the joy of the Gospel without trying to force others to believe, Pope Francis said. The joy that comes from conveying God’s love and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/David Maung By David Agren CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNS) — Esteban Alanis, 23, once ran with a local gang known as “Los Parqueros,” which would accost people for their cash and cellphones in a working-class neighborhood of southeast Ciudad Juarez. He called the crimes “easy money,” while gang …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Russian Orthodox officials said the planned meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow is not a signal that decades of tension have been resolved, but emphasizes the need to work together on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. As …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Sergei Chirikov, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After almost three decades of tense Catholic-Russian Orthodox relations, Pope Francis will meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow Feb. 12 in Cuba on the pope’s way to Mexico. It will be the first-ever meeting of a pope and Moscow …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Simone Orendain By CEBU, Philippines (CNS) — Maria Georgia “Maggie” Cogtas of Cebu told of a childhood without playing, only tough work as a garbage picker at dumpsites, construction sites and on the streets. Cogtas, 21, also told more than 12,000 people at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress …

By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More than 1,000 “missionaries of mercy” from all over the world will receive a special mandate from Pope Francis to preach and teach about God’s mercy, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella. About 700 of the missionaries who were chosen by Pope Francis will be in Rome …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth DRIGGS, Idaho (CNS) — Father Adrian Vazquez bolted out of his rectory in St. Anthony on a cold November morning, brushed a thin layer of snow off of his Subaru Outback, started the engine and raced down the road to make the 50-mile …