Catholic News Service

Officials at Georgetown University were "deeply troubled" to learn that the school's former tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, is alleged to be part of a widespread college admissions scandal.

The initial groans from the audience during a "Saturday Night Live" skit when comedian Pete Davidson likened people who "support the Catholic Church" to R. Kelly fans were just a taste of the reaction this skit would receive from some Catholic officials.

A Catholic bishop was hospitalized after a group of parishioners attacked him, a security guard and a priest in a five-decade-old land dispute in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

A man Cardinal George Pell was convicted of sexually assaulting said he is finding it hard to "take comfort" in the cardinal's six-year jail sentence because a request to appeal the conviction is due to be heard June 5.

Cardinal George Pell, 77, was sentenced to six years in prison March 13, just over two weeks after a Melbourne court allowed the publication of news that he had been found guilty of sexually abusing two boys.

On Ash Wednesday, William McLeod, a fourth-grade student at Valley View Elementary School in Bountiful, was told by his teacher to remove the ash cross he had received at church that morning.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without the voices of those effected by the exploitation of the earth's resources, especially the poor, migrants, indigenous people and young men and women, Pope Francis told participants at a Vatican conference on sustainable development.

A senior Catholic Relief Services official urged Congress to modestly increase the U.S. international affairs budget in a time of mass displacement and crises that cause hunger and inadequate health care.

Three Catholic priests, known for being outspoken against a wave of drug-related killings, claimed they have received death threats in recent weeks, reported ucanews.com.

Officials with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network criticized the March 8 decision granting an 18-month extension of temporary protected status for South Sudan because it does not include recent arrivals.

Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik has released a five-point action plan in his pastoral letter, "The Church Healing," responding to what he heard from Catholics and non-Catholics in the diocese during listening sessions.

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore announced the completion of a preliminary investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of adults and financial improprieties by Bishop Michael Bransfield, formerly of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia.

Four Catholic Relief Service staff members on their way to a training session in Nairobi, Kenya, were among the passengers aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed moments after takeoff in the east African nation.

Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria announced "with great joy" March 5 that the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 5-0 that the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen should be transferred from New York to the Peoria Diocese.

When facing temptation, Christians should follow Jesus' example by not engaging in fruitless talk with the father of lies, Pope Francis said.

Bills introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly would broaden the state's power to investigate child sexual abuse crimes and raise the statute of limitations on claims of past abuse.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has reiterated the Communist Party's commitment to make religion more culturally Chinese, underscoring what many see are problems with the Vatican's agreement with China.

Lent is a time to ask for God's grace to chip away at hypocrisy, which is seen in the natural human attempt to appear "worthier than we are," Pope Francis said.

A new report released March 6 just two days before International Women's Day stresses the urgency of making sure refugee girls and young women receive an education.

The clerical abuse scandal has caused everyone in the Catholic Church "pain and unbearable suffering," Pope Francis said, but it also is a call to repentance and the renewal of the church.