A five-year court odyssey for a Pakistani Christian mother of five will continue after an appeals court in Lahore, Pakistan, on Oct. 16 upheld a death sentence for “blasphemy.” Asia Bibi, 45, has been imprisoned since 2009 while appealing her conviction. Accused by co-workers after a dis

On sexual and medical ethics, participants at the Synod of Bishops on the Family are giving emphasis to the concept of “graduality,” a way of thinking about morality that allows for human imperfection without compromising ideals. On the Synod’s first working day, Oct. 6, Cardinal P

One of the Vatican’s top canon lawyers at the Synod of Bishops on the Family says the current process for the annulment of marriages in the Catholic Church could be streamlined and expanded to the benefit of many people whose marriages have broken down.Cardinal Francis Coccopalmerio of Italy s

The disappearance of 43 students has sparked soul-searching among many Mexicans.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Oct. 10 to Kailash Satyarthi of India and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, heroic advocates for children’s rights, especially the right to education. • In the Maiduguri Diocese in northeastern Nigeria, nearly 200 churches have been destroyed or razed by B

Captors released a Franciscan priest who was among about 20 Christians kidnapped from a Syrian village near the border with Turkey. Father Hanna Jallouf was being held under house arrest in a religious residence in Knayeh, a small Christian village in northwestern Syria, according to a statement on