Catholic News Service

Pope Francis welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Vatican July 4, and the two discussed the ongoing wars in Eastern Ukraine and in Syria, the Vatican said. Russia plays a major role in both conflicts.

The chairmen of two U.S. bishops' committees said July 3 they oppose a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that they say would lead to separation or housing instability for many families.

Trump's policies have spread fear among immigrant populations in the U.S., but Catholic organizations have responded with renewed efforts to help those groups, a survey says.

"Those who pay the price are always the little ones, the poor, the most vulnerable, who are prevented from sitting at the table and are left with the crumbs of the banquet."

The bishops' statement called the stalemate on immigration reform a "disappointing reality [that] continues to complicate efforts of law enforcement, sow discord in our communities and harm vulnerable people."

At Esperanza Immigrants' Rights Project, "we not only have the family separation cases, we have hundreds of other families seeking asylum that we are representing. This crisis hasn't stopped."

A judge ruled July 2 that Kentucky's death penalty regulations are unconstitutional because they fail to provide for an automatic stay of execution for intellectually disabled inmates.

Leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in an op-ed cast blame on government policies for recent child deaths near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on July 8 with migrants, refugees and volunteer rescue teams, the Vatican said.

Three Irish newspapers have apologized and paid compensation to a former seminarian after admitting they falsely claimed he was expelled from formation after being found in bed with another seminarian.

When ordained ministry "becomes separated from the baptismal foundation" shared with all Catholics, Cardinal Cupich tells priests, then the holy orders "are replaced by some unholy disorders."

The Franciscan-run migrant shelter La 72 has welcomed a steady stream of migrants since opening its doors in 2011. It has also endured a steady stream of harassment — from politicians and police officers, immigration officials and even organized crime.

The Diocese of New Ulm has reached a $34 million settlement with 93 survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

The bodies of a young father and his toddler are expected to be returned to El Salvador in late June for burial, days after they were swept up by a current in the Rio Grande River during an attempted border crossing into the United States.

Bishop Mark Seitz of the U.S. border Diocese of El Paso, Texas, walked and prayed with a group of migrants at the Lerdo International Bridge in El Paso June 27 as they sought asylum in the U.S.

The Vatican has told bishops and priests in China that they must follow their own consciences in deciding whether to register with the government, and it urged Catholics in the country not to judge them for the choices they make.

Nearly five dozen priests attending the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests annual assembly spent 90 minutes with a Honduran who sought protection from deportation in a St. Louis-area church.

The Supreme Court, for now, blocked the Trump administration's added citizenship question to the 2020 census, sending the case back to a lower court.

Congo's bishops said territory in the east of the country is being ceded to violent extremists, who are using the lack of government control to massacre civilians and plunder resources.

Pope Francis gave priests who minister to seafarers special permission to grant absolution for sins that usually would require the intervention of a bishop or the Vatican itself.