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

Program offers women the chance to halt chemical abortion in first stages.

Father Benedict J. Groeschel, who was a founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a leading pro-life figure and popular author, retreat master and preacher, died Oct. 3 at St. Joseph's Home for the elderly in Totowa after a long illness. He was 81."We are deeply saddened by the death

The California Catholic Conference has filed a federal civil rights complaint protesting a state ruling mandating the inclusion of voluntary direct abortion -- including gender selection and late-term abortion -- in California health insurance policies."This is a coercive and discriminatory act

Missouri spokesman confirms archbishop visited diocese for interviews.

Laicized papal ambassador accused of sex abuse in Dominican Republic

Pope Francis, who has said the Catholic Church has "not yet come up with a profound theology of womanhood," named five women, a record number, to the International Theological Commission.One of the women is U.S. Mercy Sister Prudence Allen, former chair of the philosophy department at St.