Synod calls the faithful 'to walk alongside people in difficult or exceptional situations.'

Looking ahead to the October 2015 world Synod of Bishops on the family, Cardinal George Pell said the task for Catholics "over the next 12 months" is to explain "the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass," and "the purity of heart the Scriptures require of us to re

Dallas bishop explains decision to shelter fiancée of Ebola victim and three others.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, one of the Catholic Church's best known cardinal-theologians, said the Catholic Church must hold together truth and mercy, even if it is criticized for its attempt.The cardinal, editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the son of divorce

'Responsibility to protect' must be part of 'rule of law,' he says

Lawyer says agreement 'a new day, new way' in church response to sex abuse

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis urged protesters to turn away from violence as a new round of protests began over the shooting death of African-American teenager Michael Brown this past summer in the small town of Ferguson.The protests were to take place not only in Ferguson, where Brown w

Report takes deeper look at statistics about women's religious orders

Poverty, in particular understanding its root causes and finding innovative ways to reduce it, was the focus of Catholic Charities USA's annual national gathering Oct. 4-7 in Charlotte.Discussions had extra urgency given the stagnating number of Americans living at or below the poverty line.&quo

Captors released a Franciscan priest who was among about 20 Christians kidnapped from a Syrian village near the border with Turkey, said the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Franciscan Father Hanna Jallouf was being held under house arrest in a convent in Knayeh, a small Christian village i