Catholic News Service

There is no place for discrimination or divisive distinctions among people who believe in Christ, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience.

Polarization across society has prompted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to launch an initiative that looks to bring people together to serve the common good.

After a top court in El Salvador ruled that a president can seek a second term, even though it's against the constitution, the country's only cardinal called on the world to help preserve democracy.

The Vatican has issued the preparatory document and a "handbook" for dioceses as part of the global church's preparation for the 2023 assembly of the Synod of Bishops, discussing the theme, "For a synodal church: communion, participation and mission."

Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemew and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury issue first-ever joint statement calling for people to 'choose to eat, travel, spend, invest and live differently'

The "present ills of our economy" invite Catholics to reflect on ways to propose new and creative responses to vital human needs in a post-pandemic world, said Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City in the U.S. bishops' annual Labor Day statement.

The Mexican bishops' migrant ministry has disavowed a proposal from Mexico's National Immigration Institute that would establish a camp for migrants and asylum-seekers stuck in the southern city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala. The issue seems to have generated some confusion.

With several Northeast states now joining major metropolitan regions in the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ida-related disaster areas, Catholic Charities agencies are using virtual deployment systems refined during the coronavirus pandemic to maximize their outreach to those in need.

Pope Francis' social encyclical on the environment has been the spark for a growing cadre of young adults to understand the integral connection between people and the Earth, care for creation and the harmful effects of climate change on all life.

Increasing calls to legalize euthanasia in several European countries, as well as the disregard for vulnerable people and the unborn, are signs of a "throwaway culture" that is gaining ground across the continent, Pope Francis said.

The Catholic church in Ethiopia says its operations in the northern state of Tigray have been severely affected, as the war between regional and federal forces disrupts money flow, banking services, fuel and telecommunication. An official at the bishops' social communication department clarified that an earlier statement suggesting the suspension of emergency interventions in the region was misleading. "The earlier statement was wrongly prepared," Habtamu Abrdew, social communications and public relations adviser at the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, told Catholic News Service.

Lebanon's Maronite Catholic bishops warned that the future of the crisis-stricken country is "a matter of life or death," as the dire situation continues to unravel. In a statement following their Sept. 1 monthly meeting, the bishops denounced "the systematic humiliation of citizens" whether in banks, or in endless lines at gasoline stations, or with the lack of medicine and other essentials.

The Supreme Court ruled against blocking a Texas law banning abortions at six weeks of pregnancy. The 5-4 vote said the challengers to the Texas law — which went into effect Sept. 1 — did not adequately address the "complex and novel antecedent procedural questions" in this case.

While financial reforms in the Vatican are progressing steadily, cases involving corruption and malfeasance in the Eternal City are "a disease that we relapse into," Pope Francis said.

The Francis Chronicles: Redemption is the work of God, not of human beings, so be careful and do not listen to "fundamentalists" who claim holiness comes through following certain laws, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience.

In his first interview since undergoing surgery in July, Pope Francis criticized the Western attempts to impose democracy on other countries in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan.

The chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan was due in part to a lack of foreseeing all possible eventualities, Pope Francis said in a new interview.

Pope Francis appointed Argentine theologian Emilce Cuda as the new head of office of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, a position she assumes Sept. 1. 

Mexican church leaders expressed solidarity with a caravan of migrants that was disrupted by security forces. Their reaction came after videos that surfaced showing an immigration agent kicking a migrant in the head.

Cardinal Raymond Burke thanked health care workers as well as people who have been praying for him as he continues  "intensive rehabilitation" from COVID-19.