Catholic News Service

At noon Dec. 12, the bells of every Catholic church in Strasbourg rang for 10 minutes to honor the victims of a terror attack at a Christmas market the previous day.

When Pope Francis travels to the United Arab Emirates Feb. 3-5, he will meet with the international Muslim Council of Elders, participate in an interreligious meeting and celebrate Mass for the local Catholic population.

Australian Cardinal George Pell reportedly has been found guilty on five charges related to serious sexual misconduct involving two boys at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne in the 1990s.

A gunman opened fire inside a Brazilian church, killing four people and injuring four others before turning the gun on himself, police said.

No one should be afraid to turn to God with prayer, especially in times of great doubt, suffering and need, Pope Francis said.

President Donald Trump has signed into law the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, which will provide humanitarian relief to genocide victims in Iraq and Syria and hold accountable Islamic State perpetrators of genocide.

To find Catholics who have left the church, start looking at the faces in the pews, according to a recent report.

Pro-life leaders said they were disappointed the U.S. Supreme Court declined Dec. 10 to hear appeals from Kansas and Louisiana on lower court rulings that have stopped the states from blocking Medicaid funds going to Planned Parenthood.

After more than a century, the United States government has returned three church bells swiped by American forces as war booty from the central Philippine town of Balangiga.

God sends his consolation to those in need of reassurance, even when they are facing death, Pope Francis said.

Catholic representatives worked to keep negotiations on track for a comprehensive deal to address global warming as the U.N. climate change conference entered its second and final week in Katowice, Poland.

A Catholic priest was shot dead by unknown robbers Dec. 10 near his parish in central Kenya as he was taking the Sunday Mass offerings to the bank.

The leaders of two U.S. provinces of the Society of Jesus released the names of more than 150 clergy with credible sexual abuse claims against them dating to the 1950s.

Pope Francis made surprise visits Dec. 7 and 8 to people receiving medical care far from their homes, to a dozen intellectually challenged young people and to the staff of a major Rome newspaper.

Retired Bishop Frank Rodimer of Paterson died Dec. 6 at St. Joseph's Home for the Elderly in Totowa. He was 91.

The leaders of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said the concerns of the indigenous peoples in Canada and the bishops' updated sexual abuse policies were among the issues they spoke about with Pope Francis.

A 24-year-old woman dumped sulfuric acid on a priest while he was hearing confessions in the Managua cathedral.

Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit planned to pray for the country Dec. 7, even as the French government dropped all fuel tax increases for 2019.

Just last year, Catholics were required to attend separate Masses two days in a row for the Sunday obligation and Monday's Christmas Mass. Now, they have a similar opportunity this year with the feast of the Immaculate Conception falling on a Saturday -- Dec. 8.

Saying that Jesus provides light for the church to overcome darkness, Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile released the names of priests, deacons and religious brothers who had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with minors.