Associated Press

Russia has sought to justify its assault on Ukraine with complaints about NATO's eastward expansion, it has also claimed that foreign actors have encroached on its religious turf in Ukraine, alleging the us helped instigate an Eastern Orthodox schism.

A thief broke into the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the southern city of Bari overnight, stealing a gold ring from a finger of a statue of the saint.

Vatican officials on Monday defended the last-minute rollout of Pope Francis' reform of the Holy See bureaucracy while also painting it as one of the most consequential moves of his pontificate.

A New York City parish was founded as a chapel in 1910 by French missionaries. Now African Catholics worship there on Sundays, when priests celebrate Mass in French.

The top leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the US and Ukraine's ambassador to the nation made an appeal to the world for more weapons to fight against Russia's invasion and aid to address the worsening humanitarian crisis.

 A priest who balked at some of the Vermont Roman Catholic diocese's COVID-19-related precautions has been removed from his parish.

The Vatican on Saturday expressed "surprise and pain" at Nicaragua's expulsion of the papal nuncio, which comes at a time of growing pressure on opposition figures in the Central American nation.

The Northern Ireland government issued a formal apology on Friday to people who were abused in orphanages and children's homes, telling them that "the state let you down."

The head of the German Bishops' Conference on Monday pressed for a quick decision from Pope Francis on the future of a prominent archbishop who faces strong criticism for his handling of the church's sexual abuse scandal.

Among the sites at risk in the Ukrainian capital are the nation's most sacred Orthodox shrines, dating back nearly 1,000 years to the dawn of Christianity in the region.

A prominent Roman Catholic archbishop who faced strong criticism for his handling of the church's sexual abuse scandal in Germany said Wednesday that he has offered his resignation to Pope Francis following a "spiritual timeout".

The Vatican's criminal tribunal on Tuesday resoundingly rejected defense motions to dismiss a landmark financial fraud case and ruled the trial will go ahead with the questioning of a cardinal scheduled for later this month.

For transgender Catholics across the United States, retaining their faith can entail complex calculations. They face rebukes from some fellow Catholics, including many bishops, yet find full acceptance in some premises of the church.

Families came one by one to the baptismal font in a Phoenix church where the Rev. Andrés Arango, whose baptisms up until last summer are presumed to be invalid, poured holy water over the heads of a dozen people in a do-over of the Catholic ritual.

A Connecticut newspaper exposed one of the Catholic Church's biggest sexual abuse scandals by reporting 25 years ago.

A Madrid-based law firm will conduct a year-long inquiry into past and present sexual abuse committed by Spain's Roman Catholic clergy, members of religious orders, teachers and other people associated with the church.

In Michigan, Hood was baptized, given other sacraments and swiftly ordained again to the priesthood within days in 2020. But the Archdiocese of Detroit still hasn't heard from hundreds of people whose rites at St. Anastasia are considered invalid, despite outreach efforts and publicity.

Pope Francis on Sunday hailed health care workers as heroes for their service every day, not just during the pandemic, asking the public in St. Peter's Square to join with him in applause.

Defense lawyers in the Vatican's fraud and extortion trial on Feb. 18 accused Pope Francis of violating their clients' human rights by issuing four secret, executive decrees that gave prosecutors free reign to investigate in ways that deprived the suspects of basic legal guarantees.

The Vatican's big fraud and extortion trial resumes Friday after exposing some unseemly realities of how the Holy See operates with a new spy story taking center stage.