Catholic News Service

During a trip to Mexico, the Vatican secretary of state called on Mexicans to overcome divisions and the violence afflicting the country — something he said he prayed for at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Reaffirming the principles that led the Vatican to severely limit private celebrations of Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti said exceptions would be made for specific groups.

Pope Francis has named Oblate Fr. Andrew Small secretary "pro tempore" of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Small, 53, had served two terms as national director for the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.

While acknowledging Vatican-mandated reforms in the handling of clerical sexual abuse, four U.N. special rapporteurs urged the Vatican to make it mandatory that church officials everywhere report abuse allegations to civil authorities.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced June 17 it has fulfilled its remaining $3 million obligation to clergy abuse survivors ahead of schedule in its $210 million bankruptcy settlement.

Ahead of World Refugee Day June 20, the U.S. bishops were told that many U.S. worship sites seem to be unaware of those Catholics near them who are refugees, immigrants and migrants.

Pope Francis has named U.S. Cardinals Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and James M. Harvey, archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, to be members of the Vatican's supreme court.

While the U.S. bishops authorized the drafting of a teaching document on the Eucharist and insisted its planned section on "eucharistic consistency" was not aimed at denying Communion to any specific group of people, the bishops' online debate led many Italian media outlets to a different conclusion.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, encouraged prelates meeting via Zoom for the U.S. bishops' virtual spring assembly to find ways to welcome what may be a growing number of immigrants to their dioceses and to serve them the way they would serve Christ.

Program brings renewable energy to affordable housing units managed by Catholic Charities Progress of Peoples Development Corporation.

A group of at least 162 organizations are asking bishops' conferences in the U.S., Central America and Mexico to "hear the cries of our brothers and sisters on the move and respond with bold leadership."

Although major steps have been taken to help achieve healing and reconciliation with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, much work remains ahead for the U.S. Catholic Church, the chairwoman of the National Review Board told the spring assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bolivia's Catholic bishops have released a comprehensive document detailing their role in ending public unrest after a disputed election in late 2019. The document's release comes amid accusations from the country's then-ruling party that the church was somehow complicit in its ouster and the installation of an interim government.

Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said a letter he sent in late May to the president of the U.S. bishops' conference was simply "a letter of acknowledgment" of the receipt of communication from him.

Even in the rush to recoup losses due to the global pandemic, governments must work for the benefit of all and avoid implementing measures that further isolate the poor and the vulnerable, Pope Francis said.

In a 7-2 decision June 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, saying the states that sued over the law did not have the legal right to do so.

In a unanimous decision June 17, the Supreme Court said that a Catholic social service agency should not have been excluded from Philadelphia's foster care program because it did not accept same-sex couples as foster parents.

The gathering of representatives of the world's religions is set for Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, and just a month before the critical U.N. climate summit.

Jesus is always praying for each and every person, desiring that his word would help people in their lives and that they never would feel alone, Pope Francis said.

Catholic and other Christian churches have become the main refuge for thousands of people forced to flee from their homes during conflict in Kayah, Chin, Kachin and Shan states in Myanmar.