Catholic News Service

Too often Catholics know what is going on in their neighbor's house but pay little or no attention to the normal spiritual struggles going on in their own hearts and souls, Francis said.

Amid an unprecedented, massive uprising of the Lebanese population demanding a sweeping overhaul of the country's political system, leaders of Catholic, Orthodox and evangelical churches in Lebanon assured the people, "We hear your cry."

Addressing concerns about a proposed Amazonian rite in the Catholic Church, an indigenous participant at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon called on Catholics to soften their hearts and understand the needs of Catholics in the region.

A controversial extradition bill that sparked months of protest has been formally withdrawn by Hong Kong's government, reported ucanews.org.

An update to the Program on Priestly Formation, a progress report on the establishment of a nationwide, third-party reporting system for abuse or misconduct by bishops, and a vote on new leadership for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are on the agenda for the bishops' fall general assembly.

Bishop Ricardo Ernesto Centellas Guzmán said that before considering the proposal from some members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon to ordain women deacons and married viri probati, or men of proven virtue, the current "model of the church, which is too hierarchal, must change."

Chileans must work together to address the causes of violent protests, which were followed by a police crackdown and have left at least 11 people dead in Santiago, the country's bishops said.

Bolivia's bishops have called on electoral officials to "make transparent" the vote-counting process as protesters rioted in the

The church resolves conflicts and discerns God's will by patiently listening, discussing and deciding under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

A bankruptcy judge approved a $39.2 million settlement Oct. 21 between the Diocese of Duluth and victims/survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

Solutions to environmental problems discussed at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon must involve not just Amazonian nations, but countries in Europe and North America, bishops said.

Humanitarians expressed concern over the situation of Syrian civilians displaced by the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria. They say that as the cease-fire there is about to expire, they are seeing increasing numbers of refugees fleeing into Iraq while others are trapped inside the country.

An anti-poverty summit that took place at the University of Notre Dame Oct. 15-17 brought together American Indian tribal leaders from around the country to discuss poverty issues on their reservations, with a goal of formulating tribal/church strategies to address that poverty.

The Mexican bishops' conference called for calm and reflection after well-armed members of a drug cartel descended on the city of Culiacan and forced Mexican security forces to release the son of convicted cartel kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera, known as "El Chapo."

More than a half century after a group of bishops at the Second Vatican Council made a solemn pledge to live a simple lifestyle close to their people, a group of participants from the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon signed a new pact in the Catacombs of Domitilla.

Every Christian is called to be a missionary, sharing the good news of salvation in Christ and making disciples for him, not for oneself or one's clique of like-minded believers, Pope Francis said.

Now is the time to remember "the core principles we used to know and live by and that we now seem to have forgotten," according to retired Marine Gen. James Mattis.

The sun shone on Catholic Charities, literally, Oct. 17 as Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory blessed a solar array installed on five acres of the agency's land surrounding the Missionaries of Charity's Gift of Peace home.

France's Catholic bishops plan to open their plenary assembly for the first time to lay participation following the passage of a controversial bioethics law despite mass church-backed opposition.

A Catholic priest who disappeared from his family home was found dead in a shallow grave in southeastern Kenya a week after he was reported missing.