IMAGE: NS photo/Lucy Nicholson, Reuters By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chief liaison to Republican nominee Donald Trump for Catholic issues said that emails released Oct. 11 by WikiLeaks "reveal the depths of the hostility of Hillary Clinton and her campaign toward Catholics." The emails ...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Giorgio Onorati, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting a pilgrimage of Catholics and Lutherans from Germany, Pope Francis said he does not like "the contradiction of those who want to defend Christianity in the West, and, on the other hand, are against refugees and ot...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A letter to President Barack Obama and congressional leaders asks them to "renounce publicly" a contentious sentence in the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' report that equates religious freedom with discrimination. The letter, d...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jim Young, Reuters By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Hours before the Oct. 9 presidential debate began, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani invoked St. Augustine of Hippo on a Sunday morning political news show to defend the man he was supporting for president. "Ever read 'The ...

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- All it takes is just one person carrying out one simple, loving act of mercy every day to start a revolution and stamp out the "virus of indifference," Pope Francis said. Sharing God's mercy is not about expending a huge amount of effort...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bassam Khabieh, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In the wake of intensified attacks in Syria, Pope Francis called for an immediate cease-fire -- even if temporary -- so that civilians, especially children, could be rescued from the ruins. Emphasizing that his thoughts...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chris Keane, Reuters By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic Charities agencies joined emergency response efforts in coastal communities in four Southeastern states as residents and parish staffers began returning to assess the damage Hurricane Matthew left behind. Some e...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Massimiliano Migliorato, Catholic Press Photo By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The story of how an Albanian priest endured decades of imprisonment, torture and forced labor during his country's communist crackdown against the church brought Pope Francis to tears. During the p...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Emergency aid slowly began to reach some of the thousands of Haitians displaced by Hurricane Matthew in the country's picturesque southwest as reports of casualties slowly trickled in from communities cut off b...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Nichols, Catholic Moment By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Choosing new members of the College of Cardinals, Pope Francis once again looked to countries and particularly to dioceses that were not and never had been represented in the body that advises the pope and bears r...

By John Woods NEW YORK (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of New York has initiated a voluntary Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program to promote healing and serve as a "tangible sign of the church's outreach and reparation" by providing compensation to victim-survivors of sexual abuse as mino...

By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Most people who keep an eye on life issues know the shorthand about the Hyde Amendment -- that it bars the federal government from funding abortions through Medicaid. But the amendment does more than that -- although not everything pro-lifers may wish it could...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Ettore Ferrari, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Wherever public policy, communities and even religions may have failed, sports and recreation are ready and set to lift wounded spirits and build cooperation and peace in the world, said a number of speakers at a Vatican co...

IMAGE: CNS photo/Giorgio Onorati, EPA By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Typically, the Facebook page for the Diocese of Providence Office of Vocations in Rhode Island gets anywhere from 3 to 40 likes on their posts -- most which celebrate seminarians, priests and their ministry. But it took an ...

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Malteser International By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Haitian first responders and nongovernmental aid workers were assessing the damage from Hurricane Matthew even as they scrambled to deliver food, water and shelter materials to communities isolated by washed-o...