The plight and vulnerability of Lebanon, surrounded by the chaos of Syria on the north and east and threatened by the tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the south, were brought into sharp focus during a visit to the United States by Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Cathol

A Vatican ceremony on June 28 marked the 65th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It featured a rare joint appearance by Pope Francis and his predecessor that seemed aimed at tamping down speculation prompted by the unusual circumstance that there are two living pop

"May the Lord convert the hearts of the violent and sustain our feet into the way of peace," Pope Francis said.

Ten months after an agreement ended armed conflict between forces loyal to South Sudan’s top political rivals, South Sudan’s bishops called for the nation to “rise above negativity” and pull together to achieve lasting peace in the world’s youngest nation. The prelates

UNICEF reported on June 17 that 92 percent of some 7,600 children who made the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from Libya so far this year have been unaccompanied by adults, up from 68 percent last year. • The Rev. Hermann Scheipers, the last surviving priest to have been imprisoned

Because most people today do not understand that sacramental marriage really is a bond that binds them to each other for life, many marriages today can be considered invalid, Pope Francis said on June 16. “We are living in a culture of the provisional,” he told participants in the Dioces

Syriac patriarchs, marking the two-year anniversary since Islamic State militants expelled Christians from a large part of Iraq, denounced “the ethno-religious genocide” of their people and called for the liberation of those areas. Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan and P

Maria de Lourdes Ruiz Scaperlanda, a writer and author in the Catholic press since 1982, received the 2016 St. Francis de Sales Award from the Catholic Press Association during its annual conference in St. Louis, Mo., on June 3. • The treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing from Libya to Italy c

Pope Francis issued a decree on June 4 that makes it possible now to remove diocesan bishops for neglecting their duties, in particular in regard to protecting minors and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse. The decree comes in the form of an apostolic letter issued motu proprio, responding to many

Speaking to judges and prosecutors at a Vatican summit on human trafficking and modern slavery on June 3, Pope Francis said, “You are responsible for executing justice,” the ones “called to give hope.” The pope had been given a warm welcome by some 100 judges and prosecutors