The Catholic Church should make “unconventional couples” feel at home instead of making them targets of “de facto discrimination,” the leader of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and an ally of Pope Francis said. “Couples in irregular matrimonial situations are also

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

The death of Miguel Pajares, O.H., on Aug. 12 brought to six the number of caregivers at a Catholic-run hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, who died of Ebola in August. • An official with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association said humanitarian agencies are “trying to pick up the pieces&rd

Uganda’s gay rights supporters caught a glimpse of hope on Aug. 1 when the country’s constitutional court ruled that the December 2013 parliamentary vote to pass the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was illegal because of the below-quorum attendance. The new law, hailed by the Ugandan president a

“Thousands of people, including many Christians, driven from their homes in a brutal manner; children dying of thirst and hunger in their flight; women kidnapped; people massacred; violence of every kind”—Pope Francis was clear in his condemnation of the actions of the militants of

Elizabeth Johnson, C.S.J., a theology professor at Fordham University, was given the top award of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious’ on Aug. 15 during its national assembly in Nashville, Tenn. During her acceptance speech, she strongly criticized the U.S. bishops for their formal cr

As groups across the country held vigils to remember Michael Brown, a teenager whose death on Aug. 9 has sparked a wave of unrest in his Missouri hometown and raised questions about racial profiling and police militarization, religious leaders in the St. Louis area called upon “all people to p

Across the country a number of U.S. bishops have urged a merciful response to the crisis of unaccompanied minors at the U.S. border, and their parishioners have stepped up in response to the call. Dozens of parishioners in the small community of Oracle, Ariz., 30 miles north of Tucson, are one examp

On July 26, nine men were ordained at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, Tenn., the largest group ordained together in the diocese’s 177-year history. • Pope Francis celebrated the feast of St. Ignatius Loyola in Rome on July 31 by meeting the family of Paolo Dall’Oglio,