According to the findings of a German bishops’ report released on Dec. 22, most of the country’s 66 bishops now favor allowing divorced Catholics living in new civil unions to participate in confession and receive Communion in “particular justified instances.” The report said

The number of Catholics in the world has increased, with growth registered across all five continents, according to Vatican news agency Fides. The number of Catholics in the world stood at nearly 1.23 billion people, with an overall increase of more than 15 million over the 2013 numbers. The America

Ukrainian Catholic leaders have warned that their church is being driven underground again, a quarter-century after it was re-legalized with the end of Communist rule. “In Crimea and eastern Ukraine, we’ve already effectively returned to the catacombs,” said the Rev. Ihor Yatsiv, t

U.S. women religious welcomed the conciliatory tone of a Vatican report on religious life and expressed appreciation for its acknowledgement of the important ministry that they practice in the life of the church. They also said the report, released on Dec. 16, opens a new beginning for women religio

Ending a year that saw a papal visit, a war in Gaza and the resumption of unrest in Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal’s Christmas message condemned all instances of violence. “We condemn the Gaza war and deplore its dramatic consequences, killing and destruction, but at the same time

Nearly five years after one of the most devastating earthquakes ever to rock the Western Hemisphere, more than 85,000 people still live in dozens of tent camps across Haiti’s expansive earthquake zone.While significant, the number is small compared with the original 1.5 million people who were