The Vatican on June 30 released details of Pope Francis’ itinerary for his visit to the United States from Sept. 22 to 27. The pope is making his first-ever visit to the United States to attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. During his five-day East Coast whirlwind visit, Pope

Although arson is blamed for at least three fires in June at several predominantly black churches in Southern states, investigators say a blaze that destroyed Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal church in South Carolina was not deliberately set. Churchgoers had feared the worst because the church

Harsh criticisms meted out by Pope Francis on free market capitalism have sparked backlash from some fiscal conservatives and have led some people to call him “anti-capitalist” or even a Marxist. In anticipation of his apostolic visit to the United States in September, some are bracing f

The U.S. Senate on June 16 approved a measure supported by Catholic and evangelical leaders that would prohibit the use of torture by any U.S. government agency as an interrogation technique. • The Philippine government on June 16 started the Catholic Church-backed process of decommissioning me

The Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land issued a strong condemnation against an early morning arson attack on the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee on June 18. The council, which is made up of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Heads of the Local

‘The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with abundance.’