On its last day of business the Synod of Bishops on the family approved and released a three-page message expressing solidarity with Christian families around the world The message released Oct 18 is distinct from the synod 39 s final report which the assembly was scheduled to vote on later th

Bishops in the southern state of Guerrero asked federal and local officials to prioritize finding 43 missing teacher trainees, who authorities allege were detained by crooked cops and delivered to members of a drug cartel.In a letter issued Oct. 15, the bishops outlined an increasingly bleak securit

Ever since Frank Mulbah’s mother died of Ebola in August, no one will go near him.“I went to my relatives after my mother died, but they chased me away, even after I told them that I didn’t have Ebola,” said Frank, 12, who tested negative for Ebola at the hospital where his m

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, one of the Catholic Church's best known cardinal-theologians, said the Catholic Church must hold together truth and mercy, even if it is criticized for its attempt.The cardinal, editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the son of divorce

The extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family must put greater focus on the beauty of the Christian vision of marriage and not let an approach of "welcoming" and mercy override the church's duty to call people to turn away from sin, according to a number of reports from the synod

The tug-of-war at the Vatican over calls for the Catholic Church to be more open to gays and cohabiting couples intensified on Oct. 16 as conservative bishops sought to rein in or renounce draft language they feared might condone lifestyles not in accord with church teachings.The lobbying at the two