Catholic News Service

Catholic clergy and laypeople have been expelled from Myanmar's northern Shan state by a China-backed ethnic minority army.

At a time of technological and scientific progress, "we ought to feel shame" for not having advanced in "humanity and solidarity" enough to feed the world's poor, Pope Francis said.

Healing of the church can be brought about by all faithfully living their God-given vocations, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told Catholics in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston during a visit to the statewide diocese in early October.

The apostolic administrator of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia told Catholics he would cooperate with a Pennsylvania grand jury's continuing inquiry into clergy sexual abuse.

Religions, which are meant to build bridges, contradict their very nature if they stop pursuing the path of peace, Pope Francis said.

Near the end of his homily at a Mass just prior to St. Oscar Romero's canonization, Jesuit Fr. Jose Maria Tojeira yelled to the crowd outside the Metropolitan Cathedral: "Viva Monsenor Romero!" [Long live Bishop Romero!]

Eleven children of parents who are in the United States under Temporary Protected Status traveled to Rome to meet Pope Francis ahead of the canonization of St. Oscar Romero.

The Catholic bishops of Washington state Oct. 11 applauded the unanimous decision of the state Supreme Court striking down the death penalty as unconstitutional.

The five Catholic bishops of Washington state have offered voters a "framework" by which to consider a Nov. 6 ballot initiative that would, among other measures, put a price on carbon emissions.

One U.S. observer warned Pope Francis and the Synod of Bishops that the current immigration system in the United States "blatantly threatens" and disrespects the lives and dignity of migrants.

The devil is more dangerous when he is polite and friendly, persuading people to be "lukewarm" and worldly, than when he shows his true face and blatantly pushes people to sin, Pope Francis said.

Young people can discover Jesus and find guidance more easily in small faith-based communities and networks, several observers said at the Synod of Bishops Oct. 10.

Even in far-off Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, a bishop said a young person asked him what the church is doing to prevent clerical sexual abuse.

The U.S. Supreme Court, no stranger to death penalty cases, is looking very narrowly at two aspects of capital punishment this term.

Speaking to the Synod of Bishops on behalf of Belgium's bishops' conference, a bishop said he was sure some young married men would become priests if they were asked.

At a Synod of Bishops where "cultural shift," "epochal change" and "massive challenge" are almost buzz phrases, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg said, "I'm very optimistic."

In an action to be more transparent, the 15 Catholic dioceses in Texas will release the names of clergy who were credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor, according to an Oct. 10 statement issued by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops.

The United Kingdom's Supreme Court has upheld the right of a bakery to refuse to make a cake emblazoned with a slogan in support of same-sex marriage.

The Catholic Church is one throughout the world, and Pope Francis' agreement with the communist government of China is a sign of that, Bishop John Baptist Yang Xiaoting of Yan'an told members of a Rome parish.

"One can say that all the evil done in the world can be boiled down to this: contempt for life," Pope Francis said at his general audience Oct. 10.