Esteban Alanis, 23, once ran with a local gang known as Los Parqueros, which would accost people for their cash and cellphones in a working-class neighborhood of southeast Ciudad Juárez. He called the crimes “easy money,” while gang activities offered a sense of belonging and an adolesc

The surprise announcement from Rome of the upcoming meeting between Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and Pope Francis “shows definitively Francis’ vocation as a pontiff, a bridge-builder,” Kevin Ahern, an assistant professor of religious studies at Manhattan College said on Feb. 5.&ldquo

Haiti’s Catholic bishops urged a negotiated solution to the country’s political crisis as President Michel Martelly’s term ended on Feb. 7 and elections to find a successor were indefinitely delayed. • Applicants have until May 14 to vie for a $22,000 prize in a pontifical con

The first class of 60 students from the Archdiocese of Atlanta has completed a three-year formation program in Spanish through the University of Dallas, earning a pastoral theology certificate. In a recent graduation ceremony at Holy Spirit Church, Auxiliary Bishop Luis R. Zarama of Atlanta sent for

The Diocese of San Bernadino finds itself on the cutting edge.

Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria have urged their countries to continue accepting refugees, despite demands for new restrictions after violence on New Year’s Eve in Cologne and other cities. “We need a reduction in numbers, but fixing an upper limit would be difficult,” Bish