Catholic News Service

Catholic Church officials in Russia criticized planned religious law changes that will require all clergy who studied abroad to retrain in a Russian college.

In a new apostolic letter, Scripturae Sacrae Affectus, Pope Francis said that even today, Christians can learn new things from the countless translations of the Bible that exist.

While staffers with Catholic Relief Services delivered needed supplies to far-flung parts of the globe, students at the Georgia Institute of Technology studied how the agency's missions of mercy could be done with fewer car emissions that contribute to a warming planet.

In the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, the world must aspire to be better and not return to its previous "sickened" normality of injustice, inequality and environmental degradation, Pope Francis said.

On Sept. 24, Providence Sr. Barbara Battista stood across the street from where her spiritual directee died just two days before.

As of Sept. 30, the city of San Francisco is allowing attendance for indoor worship to be 25% of the capacity of a house of worship, or up to 100 people, which follows the limit set by the state of California as part of its COVID-19 safety protocols.

Top officials at seven nationwide Catholic organizations called on congressional leaders and President Donald Trump to unite behind a new legislative package to "address the public health and economic crisis facing our country and the global community" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

If Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court, she will be the first Notre Dame Law School graduate to sit on the bench of the nation's highest court and the only sitting justice with a law degree not from Harvard or Yale.

Conversion is an ongoing process that relies on God's endless patience and grace, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis called for the use of dialogue — not weapons — for resolving the problems and conflict escalating in the Caucasus region.

Eight days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump announced Sept. 26 that Judge Amy Coney Barrett is his nominee to fill that seat.

The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this year's World Day for Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 27 is "Forced like Jesus Christ to flee," focusing on people displaced within the borders of their own country.

The Supreme Court denied the appeals of two federal death-row inmates in late September. On Sept. 22, it denied an appeal to postpone the execution of William LeCroy, who had argued that his execution should be postponed to allow his longtime lead attorney to attend. The attorney has leukemia and is vulnerable to COVID-19, so could not be present for health reasons during the pandemic.

Pope Francis asked members of the United Nations how they think they can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and build a more peaceful, more just world when many of their countries spend billions on military weapons and when their treatment of the unborn, of refugees and of women shows so little respect for human life.

Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh told Catholics in the diocese in a preelection message that he cannot tell them whom to vote for on Election Day.

The social unrest and divisions in general Hong Kong society have carried over to the Catholic community, said Cardinal John Tong Hon, who encouraged Catholics instead to follow what Jesus taught in the beatitudes.

Just hours before the sixth federal execution took place this year, and two days before the next one was scheduled, two U.S. bishops' committee chairmen called on the government to end this practice.

1.4 million refugees in Uganda are facing hunger because of aid disruption, loss of income and rising food prices linked to the COVID-19 crisis. The U.N. Refugee Agency warns that unless urgent action is taken to address the situation, levels of acute malnutrition, stunting and anemia are expected to rise, especially among children.

The world will not overcome the current crisis if only big businesses, financial institutions and the powerful have a voice, Pope Francis said.

The Santa Fe Archdiocese's Office of Social Justice and Respect Life called on National Catholic Prayer Breakfast officials to withdraw its plans to honor U.S. Attorney General William Barr with a special award at its Sept. 23 event because he is a Catholic who supports the death penalty.