Catholic News Service

God always sees people's potential, looking past their mistakes and understanding what they can become, Pope Francis said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened many parishes, but that community "in the midst of homes, in the midst of people," is still an essential place for nourishing and sharing faith, Pope Francis told Italian young adults.

With a renewed membership, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met at the Vatican in late October and laid the groundwork for devising an annual report on child protection efforts by the Catholic Church globally.

Universities around the world are taking steps alongside major technology companies to explore ways to bolster ethics education in the artificial intelligence field in line with an initiative supported by the Vatican.

Calling upon Congress for "radical solidarity" with mothers and babies -- both born and unborn -- four bishops advanced an ambitious legislative and policy agenda that prioritizes the well-being of families in a letter to lawmakers.

Abortion-related questions -- and Americans' responses to them -- were front and center in the new American Values Survey issued Oct. 27 by the Washington-based Public Religion Research Institute.

Lizvelle Rivera recalls vividly how Hurricane Ian passed over her home in Fort Myers.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five other activists returned to court Oct. 26 to face charges of failing to register a legal fund meant to help those involved in anti-government protests.

Catholic workers in Zambia have been conducting a campaign to raise awareness of LGBTQ trends that seem to be increasing in society and becoming an acceptable norm.

Catholic organizations and religious orders are calling President Joe Biden to undertake diplomatic means to prevent nuclear war with Russia.

Pope Francis condemned an attack on a Congolese village that led to the deaths of seven people, including a nun, after gunman looted and burned homes and a local health center.

Environmentalists are urging the millions of Catholics in the Philippines to take only biodegradable materials when they flock to cemeteries this year on All Souls' Day.

Looking through the lens of Catholic social teaching, several Brazilian organizations were critical of actions by President Jair Bolsonaro, who faces former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the final round of presidential elections Oct. 30.

The Diocese of Buffalo and the New York attorney general's office have reached a settlement in a 2020 civil lawsuit filed by the state regarding the diocese's handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations.

The challenges and threats facing humanity and the planet can be confronted effectively if all people come together in "a spirit of solidarity," said Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, in an appeal also supported by three Vatican dicasteries.

Ten months after a marble statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the Rosary Walk and Garden outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was vandalized and destroyed beyond repair, a replacement statue was blessed Oct. 23 by Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight, of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, asked for prayers after three people died following an Oct. 24 shooting at a high school in St. Louis.

"Spiritual arrogance" -- thinking one is holier or better than others -- is a temptation everyone faces and is a form of self-worship, Pope Francis said.

At the 77th annual dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist and author Peggy Noonan asked participants: "How can you not be romantic about life?"

Saying it is committed to "respectful dialogue" with China's communist government and to "fostering the mission of the Catholic Church and the good of the Chinese people," the Vatican announced it has renewed its agreement with China on the appointment of bishops.