LOS ANGELES (CNS) — As the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released church records on clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony again apologized to abuse victims, saying he was naive about its impact on their lives. The cardinal, who retired as archbishop of Los Angeles in 2011, also said in …

By Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI will ordain his longtime secretary an archbishop Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany. The pope named his closest aide to be prefect of the papal household, a job that involves organizing the pope’s daily round of audiences and …

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied two companies’ request for an injunction while they challenge part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate in court. In an order filed Dec. 26, Sotomayor ruled that the owners of the Hobby Lobby craft store and the …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Fortunetelling, like all occult practices, is strictly taboo at the Vatican; and prophecy is a rare gift among journalists. But Pope Benedict XVI‘s calendar for 2013 is already filling up with planned, probable or possible events. Here are 10 …

    The conservative online news service, Newsmax, is reporting late Friday that the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Obama administration must follow through on a vow to revise requirements for employers who offer health insurance to fund contraception for employees. Newsmax cited its source as …

By John Stegeman His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is still fairly new to Twitter, but the pontiff has already set a record, beating out pop superstar Justin Bieber in re-tweets. Reuters reports that while the Pope still trails Bieber in followers (the Holy Father has 2.1 million followers to Bieber’s …

Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After 20 children and six adults were shot dead in Connecticut, Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences and prayers, urging all to dedicate themselves to acts of peace in the face of such “senseless violence.” After reciting the Angelus Dec. 17, the pope, …

By Catholic News Service RALEIGH, N.C. (CNS) — The Catholic bishops of North Carolina said they were “deeply saddened” that a federal judge ruled the state cannot issue “Choose Life” license plates without offering a choice of plates with a different viewpoint. U.S. District Court Judge James C. Fox ruled …

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — For the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., 2012 brought glimmers of hope that there might soon be a way to clear up their unsettled legal status. After nearly two decades of stymied efforts to fix what is widely …

By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — Catholic bishops in England and Wales said they strongly oppose a bill to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark — the president and vice-president of the Bishops’ Conference of …