Catholic News Service

Catholic bishops are looking to "transform" Catholic schools in response to decades of declining enrollment that has forced hundreds of schools to close since 2005.

Listening to the Scripture readings at Mass is hearing God speak directly to his people, offering spiritual sustenance and needed guidance for life's difficult journey, Pope Francis said.

The Irish government announced it will hold a referendum in late May asking citizens whether they want to retain or delete the constitutional article that provides for the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child "with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother."

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York decried the Senate's failure to pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would have banned abortions after 20 weeks of gestation, and called on senators to "rethink" their stance on late-term abortions.

Catholics who have accused top members of the Roman Curia of making overtures to China's communist government without the knowledge of Pope Francis are "fostering confusion and controversy," said the director of the Vatican press office.

Failure and disappointment in the Catholic Church's response to abuse should be an impetus to expand and improve healing and prevention, said a researcher at Rome's Center for Child Protection.

Smiling and singing "Amazing Grace" and the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," hundreds of high school and college students led tens of thousands of pro-life supporters along San Francisco's Market Street in the 14th Annual Walk for Life West Coast.

Pope Francis' visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Basilica of Santa Sophia in Rome combined elements of his parish visits with elements of his visits to centers for migrants and refugees.

The Catholic Church must dedicate itself to properly forming and safeguarding the conscience of its faithful, especially young people, Pope Francis said.

In the apostolic constitution Veritatis Gaudium ("The Joy of Truth"), the pope issued revised norms for what are known as "ecclesiastical universities and faculties." 

The U.S. suspension of $65 million in aid to the U.N. agency that deals with Palestinian refugees alarmed advocates who work with Palestinians living in camps.

The German bishops' conference decided to keep the traditional wording in the Lord's Prayer while the Italian bishops' conference changed the words of the prayer in their translation.

Eighty-seven religious leaders, including Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins, have united to call on the Canadian government to strike down a new policy that requires organizations seeking summer jobs grants to confirm support for the pro-abortion and gender policies of the Liberal Party.

Retired Archbishop Daniel Buechlein of Indianapolis, a Benedictine priest for 53 years, died Jan. 25 at age 79.

A truly pastoral minister never leaves people to suffer on their own or to become a victim to their own errors and confusion, Pope Francis told members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

When different Christian churches recognize the validity of one another's baptisms, they are recognizing that God's grace is at work in them, Pope Francis said.

A religious brother, a campus ministry director and a youth minister have been named to represent the United States as young adult delegates at a pre-synod gathering in Rome in March.

To help parishes, groups, individuals and families better prepare for the World Meeting of Families, Vatican organizers are releasing a multimedia series of catechetical materials in five languages online.

A trust fund that supports a Catholic school network in inner-city Memphis, Tennessee, is running dry, forcing diocesan officials to announce that the schools will close.