“They claim to know on their own what truth is, but Catholic doctrine is not a closed system, but a living tradition that develops,” Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany told the Italian daily Il Mattino on Sept. 18. Cardinal Kasper was responding to a new book featuring contributions by fi

The deaths of up to 500 mostly Palestinian and Syrian migrants and refugees could be an act of mass murder, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said on Sept. 19. Hundreds of migrant workers and refugees from Gaza and Syrian conflicts were aboard a boat that left

In an address at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Sept. 11, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See’s permanent observer at the United Nations, described the tragic forms of contemporary slavery, such as “massive kidnappings and sale of young girls under the false premises of religi

President Obama’s decision to delay executive measures on immigration until after the November elections drew sharp rebukes from some of the most vocal advocates for immigrants, while others continued to urge specific actions toward reform and analysts weighed whether the delay hurts or helps

U.S. bishops visiting the Holy Land on Sept. 11 said an on-the-ground tour about the situation in East Jerusalem heightened their awareness of the settlement issue in the divided city. “The expansion of settlements is quickly driving [the possibility of a two-state solution] off the drawing bo

Amnesty International has issued a devastating report detailing summary executions, child abductions, sexual assaults, forced religious conversions and “ethnic cleansing on a historic scale” committed by the Islamic State militant group as it swept across northern Iraq from its base of o

Pope Francis’ choice of Albania as the destination of his first international trip in Europe reflects his trademark pastoral approach: head to the peripheries; bring healing to the suffering. But his Sept. 21 visit to the poor, Muslim-majority nation also will highlight, to a world increasingl

In a technological and cultural first, Pope Francis joined a Google Hangout, video chatting with young people across five continents, including a student in the gang-infested neighborhood of La Campanera, in San Salvador, on Sept. 4. • The cause for canonization of Archbishop Fulton Sheen has b

Hunger and panic are spreading among people unable to work because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of Ebola, say church workers in West Africa. In Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, church groups “are trying to get food and distribute it to families...but movement is heavily res

Catholic aid organizations are hopeful that the most recent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas will hold as they begin to assess the needs in Gaza after 50 days of war. “This is a window of opportunity,” said Sami El-Yousef, Catholic Near East Welfare Association’s regional direct