Catholic News Service

Signing his document dedicated to young people, faith and discernment, Pope Francis said Mary, the mother of God, is a source of inspiration and strength for everyone who seeks to understand their vocation.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Chilean cardinal who has faced widespread criticism for his handling of cases of clerical sexual abuse in the country.

Retired Bishop Francis Quinn of Sacramento, California, who headed the Northern California diocese from 1980 to 1994 and later spent 13 years ministering to Native Americans in the Diocese of Tucson, died March 21 at age 97.

A new piece of legislation endorsed by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos could put Catholic or other religious schools within reach of many families who would otherwise not be able to afford them.

Access to clean, fresh water is a fundamental human right that must be defended, especially in poor areas where men, women and children are suffering the deadly effects of climate change, Pope Francis said.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna announced he has prostate cancer, will undergo surgery in May and will be out of public view for several weeks.

Pope Francis urged legislators from the Czech Republic and Slovakia to honor their nations' Christian heritage by working to increase "mutual acceptance and solidarity."

More than half of U.S. Catholics say they are very concerned about the persecution of Christians around the world, with this 58 percent figure up by 17 percent from a similar poll a year ago.

The place Pope Francis chose to sign his letter to young people is an important and popular sanctuary housing the Holy House of Loreto.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been discharged from St. Joseph Medical Center and "has entered a standard rehabilitation program" to continue his recovery from a mild stroke.

Guatemalan Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini said he notices when he visits family in the U.S. that almost anywhere he goes, the lights seem to be on — even in the daytime, even if there's enough natural light to illuminate a space.

A close aide to St. John Paul II has vigorously defended the late pope's handling of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and denied accusations that he ignored the problem during his 27-year pontificate.

In a joint letter to Congress, the chairmen of three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said they oppose the Equality Act because it would impose "sweeping regulations to the detriment of society."

The chairman of the U.S. bishops' domestic policy committee late March 19 expressed grief over the lives and livelihoods lost and threatened by the historic flooding in the Midwest and offered prayers for recovery.

One of the founders of liberation theology in Latin America said he supports an effort to declare St. Oscar Romero a doctor of the Catholic Church.

Christians have faith in a God who wants to and is able to transform the world, conquering evil with good, Pope Francis said.

Two boys at a Catholic boarding school in Zimbabwe are among the more than 300 people killed in the aftermath of a cyclone that slammed into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in mid-March. Officials fear the death toll from the cyclone could reach 1,000.

The attorney general of West Virginia has brought a civil suit against the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and its former bishop, Bishop Michael Bransfield, citing provisions of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.

The Archdiocese of Boston is implementing a reporting system to handle confidential and anonymous reporting of misconduct by high-ranking church officials, including cardinals and bishops.

Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of an Italian missionary killed in Myanmar and seven Romanian Catholic bishops — one of whom was secretly named a cardinal by St. Paul VI — persecuted during the communist era.