By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Addressing the Vatican tribunal primarily responsible for hearing requests for marriage annulments, Pope Francis said all annulment processes should be free of charge. “The sacraments are free. The sacraments give us grace. And a matrimonial process pertains to the sacrament …

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — Evoking a phrase long associated with the civil rights movement, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston told an overflow crowd in Washington that “we shall overcome” in the fight against abortion. Quoting Pope Francis in his homily Jan. 21 during the opening …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — A group of Catholic leaders urged fellow Catholics in Congress to set aside “partisan bickering” and support the U.S. bishops’ efforts on behalf of a comprehensive immigration reform, calling it a sanctity of life issue and an important step in building a culture of …

By Ann Schneible CNA/EWTN News  VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has rejected the “simplistic” belief that large families are among the causes of poverty, stressing that economic systems which create a culture of waste are to blame. “Families know they are essential to the life of society,” the Pope said …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM MANILA — Pope Francis said his September trip to the U.S. will take him to Philadelphia, New York and Washington — where he intends to canonize Blessed Junipero Serra — but probably no other stops. Pope Francis made …

CNA/EWTN News MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Pope departed the Philippines Monday morning from Villamor Air Base at a farewell ceremony where over 400 abandoned children from various welfare centers performed songs to bid him farewell. “Pope Francis, we love you!” they said in a coordinated chant.

CNA/EWTN News Pope Francis took the opportunity during an address to families in the Philippines to praise Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical opposing contraception and affirming Church teaching on sexuality and human life. The Pope spoke Friday to families gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila during his …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Commenting on recent killings by Islamist terrorists at a Paris newspaper, Pope Francis condemned killing in the name of God, but said freedom of expression should be limited by respect for religion and that …

CNA/EWTN News Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Monsignor Joseph Hanefeldt, a priest of the Omaha archdiocese and a Nebraska native, as the eighth Bishop of Grand Island, which serves Catholics in central and western Nebraska.