Catholic News Service

Jesus wants his followers to move from a formal observance of God's commands to an interior acceptance of them and, in that way, to no longer be slaves to sin and selfishness, Pope Francis said.

Widespread confusion about a recent change to the so-called "public charge" law that limits immigrants' use of government benefit programs will have a chilling effect on people, including those who are not covered by the ruling, according to staff at Cabrini Immigrant Services of NYC.

Cardinal George Pell will have his last chance to have his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year old choirboys overturned when his lawyers plead his case to the High Court of Australia March 11-12.

Everyone, including the pope, has someone they should thank God for and someone they should apologize to, Pope Francis said.

Fewer than one-third of Catholics believe the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, the Pew Research Center found in a recent poll.

A cold, gray, wintry day in South Bend seemed like an appropriate setting for the burial of 2,411 aborted babies, whose remains were interred in Southlawn Cemetery in the city Feb. 12.

Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that, like them, he is accused of not being courageous or not listening to the Holy Spirit when he says or does something someone disagrees with — like not mentioning married priests in his document on the Amazon.

A former professor at the Diocese of Buffalo's seminary was charged with cyberstalking in connection with a series of harassing phone calls to a television reporter over a six-month period.

Throughout his life, Jesuit Father George V. Coyne, who died Feb. 11 in Syracuse, New York, at age 87 from bladder cancer, credited a forward-thinking professor of classical Greek for nurturing his passion by arranging for him to borrow astronomy books from a local library. That foresight led Coyne to become one of the world's most respected and well-known Jesuit scientists.

The threat of spreading the coronavirus has forced Catholic officials in Hong Kong to suspend all church programs Feb. 15-28, including Sunday Masses and the Ash Wednesday liturgy that marks the beginning of Lent.

Recognizing and repenting for one's own sins and errors is difficult, but essential, Pope Francis said.

Bishop William J. McNaughton, a Maryknoll missionary for 66 years and the first bishop of Incheon, South Korea, from 1962 until his retirement 2002, died Feb. 3 at Cedar View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Methuen. He was 93.

Glenmary Father John Rausch recognized early in his time as a missionary in Appalachia that people were facing severe environmental and economic challenges and devoted his ministry to seeking solutions and calling attention to their predicament.

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, 66, announced that at the full plenary session of the German bishops' conference in early March, he will not be a candidate for another term as president.

Pope Francis has appointed Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo new administrator of the Manila Archdiocese following the Feb. 9 departure of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to assume a new post at the Vatican.

Jesuit provincials have demanded that Nicaraguan authorities end a "campaign of slander and aggressions" against the Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua and its rector, Jesuit Father Jose Alberto Idiaquez, "as well as other institutions and people linked to the Society of Jesus in Nicaragua."

Talking about debates, differences and discernment, Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that people focused on the possibility of ordaining some married men and women deacons for service in the Amazon will be disappointed in his apostolic exhortation.

California State University-San Marcos has agreed to revise its student fee policies after a federal district court ruled last August that the university cannot block fees to pro-life students.

After meeting Pope Francis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that he was inspired by their discussions about peace.

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has appointed Suzanne Healy, the former victims assistance coordinator for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, as the new chair of the National Review Board, effective in June.