Catholic News Service

The United Nations and human right groups have strongly condemned the worsening bloodshed in Myanmar as at least 38 people were killed in the military's crackdown on protesters March 14.

"The world will never be the same again. But it is precisely within this calamity that we must grasp those signs that can prove to be the cornerstones of reconstruction," the pope says in a new book.

Before Pope Francis names a new prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, he has asked that an outside expert consult with the office's staff and review its procedures. The congregation is charged with promoting the celebration of the Mass and the sacraments and fostering their correct celebration, including by overseeing the approval of the translations of liturgical books and texts.

Every confessor should understand he is a sinner, forgiven by God, and he is there to offer his brothers and sisters — sinners, too — the same divine mercy and forgiveness he has received, Pope Francis said.

Ireland's Catholic bishops plan to hold a synod within the next five years to — among other things — hear from people who were raised Catholic but have walked away from the church.

Offering general absolution to the faithful without having them personally confess their sins first may still be done in places seeing serious or increasing levels of coronavirus infections, a Vatican official said.

Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier has ordered a reexamination of abuse allegations against Fr. Joseph Kentenich, founder of the international Schonstatt movement, from his time in exile in the U.S.

"I saw the hope of being open to a horizon of peace and fraternity, summed up in Jesus' words that were the motto of the visit: 'You are all brothers,'" Pope Francis said of his recent visit to Iraq.

Pro-immigrant groups applauded a March 8 decision by the Biden administration to protect some 320,000 Venezuelans in the United States under a temporary immigration program.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis prayed March 6 for peace and justice in the upcoming trial of a white former city police officer in death of George Floyd.

A U.S. government forensic team announced March 4 it has identified the remains of Fr. Emil Kapaun, a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, who was an Army chaplain and died in a Chinese prisoner-of-war camp during the Korean War.

Having witnessed or even experienced persecution for their faith, the Christians of Iraq must be careful not to harbor thoughts of revenge, Pope Francis said at a Mass March 7 with some 10,000 people in Irbil.

In a new video, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine reiterated that use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine "can be used in good moral conscience."

Bishops in Colombia's Chocó department are calling for a cease-fire between the Colombian army and rebel groups fighting over drug trafficking routes and illegal gold mines in one of the country's most remote regions.

Catholic bishops said the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating an already grave imbalance in living conditions and opportunities, alongside an "unbridled race to exploit hydrocarbons" in its parks and nature reserves.

Saying the pandemic has taken its toll on discipleship, Bishop Edward J. Burns announced he will convene a synod in the diocese Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Early projections of results of a Feb. 28 election in El Salvador show the conservative New Ideas (Nuevas Ideas) party en route to winning a majority of seats in the national legislative assembly, giving its founder, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, what amounts to absolute power, if lawmakers grant it.

There is no greater love in the world than the love God has for humanity, Pope Francis said.

The second expert report commissioned to investigate abuse in the Archdiocese of Cologne also incriminates church officials who are still alive and accuses them of mistakes in dealing with cases of sexualized violence, according to its author, Björn Gercke.

Dennis R. DePerro, the 21st president of St. Bonaventure University, died of COVID-19 complications March 1. He was 62.