Staff Report UPDATE: The Vatican denied Wednesday that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sufferers from any serious illness other than the problems associated with old age. A Newsmax report claims that Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denied reports in a Spanish newspaper that the former pope was facing any specific illness. …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON (CNS) — An April 5 decision by a New York federal judge to lift age limits on purchases of over-the-counter emergency contraceptives should be “appealed and overturned,” according to an official of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. “No public health consideration justifies the unregulated …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis reaffirmed the importance of responding decisively to the problem of the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy and called on the Vatican office dealing with suspected cases to continue carrying out its mandate. During an …

By Catholic News Service  HOUSTON (CNS) — Catholic educators opened 28 new schools and closed or consolidated 148 others during the 2012-13 school year, according to a report issued by the National Catholic Educational Association. The NCEA has ranked the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the sixth-largest Catholic school district in the …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When hundreds of thousands of young Catholics gather with Pope Francis in Rio de Janeiro in the summer, reflections on safeguarding the environment will be part of the program. Like earlier editions of World Youth Day, the July celebration in …

By Joseph Austin Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — The University of Dallas, an independent Catholic university, has a “flavor that you can’t get certainly at secular institutions,” president Thomas Keefe told Catholic News Service. “We are very clear in our specific mission distinctiveness” to promote the Catholic identity of …

FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE NEWS ON POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, click here. By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called on the world’s priests to bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the …

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON (CNS) — Thousands of people who gathered at one end of the National Mall March 26 in support of traditional marriage took their message to the U.S. Supreme Court as they walked and held aloft placards with signs saying: “Kids do best with …

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Authorities announced that at least 24 “penitents” are expected to be nailed on the cross on Good Friday, an annual ritual meant to atone for sins and give thanks to God for blessings. But the country’s Catholic bishops warned the faithful against resorting to extreme forms …

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — The legal question of the constitutionality of California’s law banning same-sex marriage may take a back seat to consideration of whether the time is “ripe” for a national-level ruling, suggested the Supreme Court justices’ questioning in the first of two major …