Catholic News Service

As the celebration of Christmas draws near, the plight of the Holy Family calls to mind the sufferings of the many men, women and children escaping war and persecution, Pope Francis said.

"My brother was murdered by a drive-by shooting at the age of 18 years old," says a young man from Chicago whose emotion-stained voice plays in a video.

An English cardinal has told an inquiry into child abuse of his shock at learning that a vicar general of his former archdiocese tried to help two pedophile priests escape to the United States.

For more than 38 years, Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa has preached to the pope and top officials of the Roman Curia. In early January, he will lead the weeklong retreat of the U.S. bishops.

Pope Francis will make a three-day visit to Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in May, the Vatican announced.

Since Cardinal Joseph Bernardin introduced the "seamless garment" approach to life issues 35 years ago, the notion has been both divisive and formative for the church, according to speakers at a Dec. 11 panel in New York.

The Field Hospital: Xavier Society for the Blind explores technological advances to enhance religious education and other materials for vision-impaired Catholics.

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.