Catholic News Service

Like Mary, who after the Annunciation went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth, young Catholics are called to welcome Jesus into their lives and then to go out and share their joy with others, Pope Francis said.

The Catholic Church "embraces and encourages a passion for scientific research as an expression of love for the truth and for knowledge about the world," Pope Francis told members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In the spirit of Pope Francis' call to care for creation, Holyrood Cemetery in Washington is using goat power, not gas power, to clear four acres of undeveloped, blackberry-infested land.

Amid a U.N. warning that a famine is looming in Somalia, U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services is calling for increased humanitarian support in the Horn of Africa country.

Four weeks of debate -- during a review conference for a treaty widely viewed as a cornerstone of nuclear disarmament -- resulted in no consensus on how to move forward despite the efforts of the Holy See, disarmament advocates and non-nuclear nations.

Catholics in the U.K. paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II following her death Sept. 8 and the end of a reign that lasted more than 70 years. Pope Francis sent a telegram addressed "To His Majesty the King, Charles III," her son who immediately ascended to the throne.

Catholic bishops in Australia have released guidelines for the country's almost 2,000 Catholic schools on gender, urging school leaders to resist pressure to adopt the "dominant rhetoric around gender."

Europe and the entire world are being shaken by a war of great seriousness, Pope Francis told his papal nuncios who serve around the globe.

Catholics in the Prince Albert Diocese joined the local Anglican bishop and others across Saskatchewan and the nation in praying for the victims and survivors of a stabbing spree on the James Smith First Nation and in nearby Weldon, Saskatchewan.

Discerning the will of God means being able to listen to one's own heart and recognize the Lord's presence in the unexpected events of life, Pope Francis said.

The Polish bishops' conference has cautiously endorsed new government demands for $1.29 trillion in reparations from Germany for damage during World War II, although a spokesman said the church hoped this would not impede relations between the neighboring countries.

Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, has begun distributing water to help residents besieged by a failing water system in the state's capital city.

The plenary assembly of the German Synodal Path meeting in Frankfurt Sept. 8-10 will start by debating a 32-page text on sexual morality, which could be adopted at the meeting, as could eight other texts, some of which contain far-reaching proposals for reforms in the church.

Calling sexual abuse "diabolical" and a "mostrosity," Pope Francis underlined there is "zero tolerance" for those in the church who are guilty of abuse.

For the unity and greater good of the Knights of Malta, Pope Francis has promulgated a new constitution and code for the order, appointed a provisional sovereign council and called for an extraordinary general chapter to be held at the start of the new year.

Retired Bishop Dale J. Melczek of Gary, who wrote two pastoral letters that addressed racism and took an active role in building understanding across racial lines throughout his tenure, died Aug. 25. He was 83.

Clergy in some U.S. parishes are leading efforts to create more awareness of Pope Francis' message on the moral duty to care for the environment during the ecumenical Season of Creation.

The number of Catholic institutions where at least some of its employees have union representation has grown to more than 600, according to the annual "Gaudium et Spes Labor Report" by the Catholic Labor Network.

Pope Francis beatified Pope John Paul I during a Sept. 4 Mass attended by an estimated 25,000 in St. Peter's Square.

Thousands of marchers lined up in a Sacramento park Aug. 26 to finish the last mile of a 23-day farmworker march.