Catholic News Service

Venezuelan Americans in Florida are sending a message to GOP politicians: They can be persuaded to switch political sides for those who favor a path toward citizenship for those with Temporary Protection Status.

Pope Francis has not devalued the Torah and does not question the fact that the Torah is crucial for modern Judaism, Cardinal Kurt Koch told two prominent Jewish leaders.

Catholic bishops in Kenya have banned politicians from addressing congregations in churches over concerns that the leaders were abusing the purity of places of worship.

In the face of widespread evidence of humanity's dark side, speakers a prayer service Sept. 13 — on the eve of the opening of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly — identified unmistakable signs of hope. Bishop Gregory J. Mansour of the Maronite Diocese of St. Maron of Brooklyn said there is a "great and edifying effort" by the United Nations to counter "totalitarian forms of government that trample the rights of the people they are called to serve."

Church leaders in Nicaragua said "the political and social situation must not continue the same" as the country marks a bicentennial marred by political repression, mass migration and a scandalous response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A document released in advance of the Sept. 15 bicentennial from the Archdiocese of Managua's justice and peace commission said the church "wants to be a voice of encouragement and hope" in Nicaragua.

A Vatican official urged Mexican bishops to prioritize migrant ministries — even in dioceses without significant migrant flows — saying, "No diocese exists in Mexico that can avoid this call."

The world needs Christians who are "signs of contradiction," who demonstrate the beauty of the Gospel rather than hostility toward others, Pope Francis said. Celebrating Mass on the final day of his apostolic trip to Slovakia Sept. 15, the pope said the country needed such prophets who are "models of fraternal life, where society is experiencing tension and hostility," especially toward those who often feel unwelcome.

A joint report by the Kino Border Initiative and Network, the  Catholic social justice lobby, details complaints lodged against U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents against those seeking asylum at the Arizona-Mexico border.

A complete rebuild and expansion of the living quarters for the Swiss Guard will not only improve life for guards and their families, it will also allow for the future possibility of recruiting women.

During the closing Mass of the centennial year commemorating the 100th anniversary of the placing of the foundation stone of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory encouraged Catholics to reflect on Mary as the Mother of God and the entire church.

Without naming the president, the Salvadoran bishops' conference criticized an array of actions led by him and his loyalists, from an interpretation of El Salvador's constitution aimed at allowing his reelection bid to proposals that could legalize abortion, as well as a recent law that turned Bitcoin into legal tender in the country.

In Slovakia, Pope Francis prayed that Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionary brothers who evangelized Central and Eastern Europe before the division of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, would intercede for all religious faiths in the country.  

"Little Amal," an 11-foot puppet who is on a 5,000-mile pilgrimage from the Syrian border through eight countries to the United Kingdom, got to offer Pope Francis her enormous hand, which he welcomed by grasping one finger.

The oldest record of 1,700 years of Jewish life in Germany has arrived in Cologne, on loan from the Vatican Library.

The Francis Chronicles: The Gospel should never be used as a means to an end, wielded like an ideology, Pope Francis told representatives of the Claretian Missionaries.

In his first appearance at the National Press Club as archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory on Sept. 8 emphasized the importance of protecting the environment and upholding the dignity of human life at all stages.

Residents of homes run by archdiocesan ministry, left without power after storm, were not evacuated earlier because there was no mandatory order, officials said.

The U.S. Catholic Church in 2020 had 18,075 permanent deacons serving in ministry, a decrease of 118 deacons, less than 1%, from the previous year, according to data collected by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate in Washington

A major arms fair in London has drawn fire from Catholic bishops and justice and peace groups who say the trade in weaponry fuels conflict around the world.

Pope Francis named a Chilean priest who had testified against his abusive mentor to be secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy.