By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — Syriac Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan, in Washington to meet with federal government representatives and members of Congress, decried the “mass cleansing” of Christians from Mosul, Iraq, by what he called “a bed of criminals.”

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Taking the chef completely by surprise, Pope Francis unexpectedly showed up to eat with the Vatican’s blue collar workers at their cafeteria in the tiny city-state’s “industrial park.”

By Nancy Wiechec Catholic News Service  UPDATE: Despite Chaput’s confirmation, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia published the following tweet on July 25. No official confirmation from Vatican re: @Pontifex attending #WMF2015 +Chaput remarks raise hope Pope will join http://t.co/lxjXyulKGz — Archdiocese Phila. (@ArchPhilly) July 25, 2014     FARGO, N.D. — …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has filed a brief with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver indicating it plans to develop an alternative for Catholic and other religious nonprofit employers to opt out of providing federally mandated contraceptives they object to including in …

By Catholic News Service NEW YORK — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said it would be an “extraordinary moment for our city and an extraordinary honor” if Pope Francis visited the Big Apple in September 2015, when the World Meeting of Families takes place in Philadelphia.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Church law has procedures and penalties for effectively dealing with allegations of clerical sexual abuse, but the Vatican is working to revise a section of the Code of Canon Law to make those norms and procedures clearer and, therefore, more effective, …

Staff Report Heeding the call to a New Evangelization, The Catholic Telegraph has been active on social media sites Facebook and Twitter for several years. On July 23, 2014 the newspaper’s official Twitter feed, @cathtelegraph, picked up its 6,000th follower.

By John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph  NET Ministries opened the organization’s first regional office in Cincinnati July 1. The youth evangelization organization, which announced it would be opening a regional office here late last year, has been working in this archdiocese for years, hosting more than 50 retreats in 2013. …

Staff Report Subscribers to The Catholic Telegraph’s print edition (and remember you can sign up here for a subscription at no cost to you) will begin receiving their August editions of the newspaper around Tuesday, July 29.

Staff Report Lest one believe that summer fun is nearing an end as July rolls along, The Catholic Telegraph’s 2014 Festival Guide includes 40 more festivals between now and the end of September.