Democracy and market economies go hand in hand but are risky and can be abused if they do not sustain human dignity and support the common good, according to a Vatican economic official. Joseph F. X. Zahra, a Maltese economist who is deputy coordinator of the Vatican Council for the Economy, spoke a

Members of a papal commission set up to advise Pope Francis on the protection of children “decided” on Feb. 6 that one of its members, Peter Saunders, should “take a leave of absence.” Saunders has been frequently quoted by the press in criticism of specific church decisions

Bill O’Keefe, Catholic Relief Services’ vice president for government relations and advocacy, in December toured C.R.S. and Caritas Internationalis efforts to respond to the continuing refugee crisis in Europe in Greece, Serbia and Macedonia. O’Keefe was astonished by the sight of

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

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

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

With poverty on the rise and a drought compounding Zimbabwe’s problems, people are struggling to make ends meet, church workers said. In Zimbabwe’s hospitals and other health facilities, “patients need to pay for everything: painkillers, drips, injections and scans,” said Get

After nearly 27 years on the job, Greg Erlandson stepped down as publisher at Our Sunday Visitor Inc., on Jan. 31. • The Fiat 500L that Pope Francis used to tour Philadelphia was auctioned off for $82,000 at a black-tie event kicking off the Philadelphia Auto Show on Jan. 29 with proceeds

Long before Pope Francis spoke of a poor church for the poor and of taking the church to the peripheries, Bishop Samuel Ruiz García of San Cristóbal de Las Casas built such a church in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state. Inspired by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and gatherings of