Catholic News Service

Louisiana's Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Catholic, signed into law a measure that makes nearly all abortions illegal in the state once the fetal heartbeat is detected, which could be as early as six weeks.

Italian police arrested former U.S. Salvatorian Fr. Joseph Henn 16 years after Italy's highest court confirmed his extradition to the United States to face allegations of child sexual abuse in Arizona.

The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development will oversee the activity of Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based confederation of Catholic aid agencies, said a new Vatican decree.

On May 30, New Hampshire lawmakers garnered enough votes to abolish the death penalty in the state, overriding a veto from Gov. Chris Sununu and becoming the 21st state to ban capital punishment.

Police in Vietnam have been accused of abducting a Catholic advocate for social and charitable activities.

The attorney general of Michigan has charged five priests, most whom had been removed from ministry, with sex abuse crimes, following a monthslong investigation. 

The Field Hospital: Capuchin Franciscan Fr. Anthony Kote-Witah ministers to people who have gone through hard times — in a city that has seen its share of better days. But as Kote-Witah found hope through desolation, he tries to find that same light of Christ's love in the lives of others.

Franciscan Fr. David Pivonka, the newly elected president of Franciscan University in Steubenville, has assumed his leadership duties immediately, and his formal inauguration will take place later this year.

As disputes over homosexuality continue to stir within the worldwide Anglican Communion, conservative African bishops say they will boycott a decennial gathering of top clerics next summer unless what the Africans consider godly order is restored.

When the Holy Spirit speaks to men and women through the word of those who evangelize, it ignites a power strong enough to break down the barriers that divide the human family, Pope Francis said.

In a 64-50 vote May 28, the Illinois House passed an abortion bill the Catholic Conference of Illinois called "an extreme measure" that allows "for the abortion of unborn life at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason."

With Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signing into law a bill that bans abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy, the state's lawmakers" have taken a giant step forward for the pro-life movement," said St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson.

Suspected Muslim extremists attacked another Catholic church in Burkina Faso, killing four people and raising the death toll among Christians to 20 in wave of violence in the West Africa nation.

The U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on two different aspects of Indiana abortion laws May 28.

A financial controversy involving an Indian cardinal has taken another turn after his archdiocese demanded a federal investigation into allegedly fake documents it said are aimed at defaming him.

Nearly a year later, Pope Francis denied claims made by a former apostolic nuncio to the United States who accused him and other church officials of failing to act on accusations of abuse of conscience and power by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

If the world is to win the fight against climate change, its leaders must stop profiting from fossil fuels that threaten the survival and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants, Pope Francis said.

Being indifferent to or excluding migrants is a sign of a deteriorating morality that will soon spread and risk marginalizing everyone who fails to fit in, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis has named Bishop Robert Gruss of Rapid City, South Dakota, to head the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan.

The charity of the Catholic Church must be born from prayer before "the fixed tabernacle and mobile tabernacles" — adoring Jesus in the Eucharist and ministering to him in the poor and needy, Pope Francis said.