By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices Jan. 15 pressed attorneys about when it is constitutional to prohibit certain kinds of speech in a case over buffer zones around abortion clinics. In oral arguments in a case over a 35-foot buffer zone around Massachusetts Planned Parenthood …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — On successive days in mid-January, Pope Francis and his top collaborator at the Vatican made public statements that provided a lesson in Franciscan contextualization of highly loaded moral issues.

By Christina M. Gray Catholic News Service GREENBRAE, Calif. — Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco said the purpose of a new liturgical institute he created is to “reclaim the sense of the sacred” in liturgical expression at the parish level.

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In the first nine and a half months of Pope Francis‘ pontificate, more than 6.6 million people participated in papal events at the Vatican, including weekly general audiences, group audiences, liturgies and recitations of the Angelus and “Regina Coeli” on …

By Charmaine Barranco Catholic News Service BROOKS, Minn. — Christmas this year is special for Mickala Morinville, who is back with her family after a lengthy illness and a Christmas spent a year ago at the Mayo Clinic. One of the last things 17-year-old Mickala remembers clearly is reciting a …

By John Mulderig Catholic News Service NEW YORK — The time has come, it seems, to return to Panem, the dystopian North American nation that provides the setting for the satisfying action sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (Lionsgate), just as it did for the 2012 first installment in the …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In an effort to better implement the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Holy See has begun to draw up its own safe-environment program for children in Vatican City State and to offer human rights courses for its …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In his first extensive piece of writing as pope, Pope Francis lays out a vision of the Catholic Church dedicated to evangelization in a positive key, with a focus on society’s poorest and most vulnerable, including the aged and unborn. …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — Recognizing that Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II have widespread reputations for holiness and that years of studying their lives and actions have proven their exceptional virtue, Pope Francis announced he would declare his two predecessors saints at a single …

By Catholic News Service & CT Staff WASHINGTON — The Little Sisters of the Poor and a Catholic college are the latest Catholic entities to file a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services over its mandate that most religious employers’ health insurance plans cover contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing …