Catholic News Service

The over 30 faith leaders who joined the online service also prayed for President Joe Biden, members of Congress, the nation's front-line workers, victims of COVID-19 and immigrants. 

Former Vatican bank president Angelo Caloia and his lawyer were found guilty of money laundering and embezzling millions of euros from property sales.

A young priest ordained only six months ago was among the casualties of an explosion at a parish center in Madrid.

Bishops across the U.S. welcomed the inauguration of President Joe Biden as a celebration of democracy and liberty, and prayed for reconciliation in the face of deep political divides.

The 46th president of the United States along with fellow Catholics and other people of goodwill began the latest chapter in the nation's political history with a Mass ahead of the presidential inauguration.

In his inaugural address Jan. 20, President Joe Biden said he is committed with his "whole soul" to bringing this country together.

The U.S. Bishops' Conference president said he was praying God will help Biden "heal the wounds caused by the pandemic, [and] to ease our intense political and culture divisions." 

Pope Francis prayed that President Joe Biden would work to heal the divisions in U.S. society and promote human dignity and peace around the globe.

Marking the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons coming into force Jan. 22, Pope Francis encouraged nations to work toward a world free from all nuclear arms.

As the Vatican health service continued vaccinating Vatican residents and employees against COVID-19, it also began offering the vaccine to homeless people who live in Vatican-owned shelters.

Unity requires prayer, love and fighting the devil, who always sows division, Pope Francis said.

The head of the San Salvador Archdiocese refused to allow a judge access to church records on one of the largest modern-day massacres in Latin America, saying Jan. 17 that he's simply protecting victims.

Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League in Chicago and one of the towering figures of the pro-life movement for decades, died of pneumonia Jan. 18 at his home in Chicago's Northwest Side.

The Vatican announced that it withdrew an arrest and extradition request for Cecilia Marogna, an Italian political analyst who allegedly was hired as a consultant by Cardinal Angelo Becciu and is now accused of embezzlement. Marogna faces "imminent" trial, the Vatican said.

With the news that dozens of people were suffocating to death due to a lack of oxygen in hospitals in the Amazon city of Manaus, Catholic bishops pleaded for more supplies. 

Retired Archbishop Philip Wilson, former president of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference who served as archbishop of Adelaide for 17 years, died Jan. 17. He was 70.

Although the Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution of Dustin Higgs Jan. 15, two justices made their objections known loud and clear in dissents that called into question the speed of these decisions and even the constitutionality of capital punishment.

People need to rediscover and recommit to the vision of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to work nonviolently for equality for all, Pope Francis said.

Silence, like words, can be a love language, Pope Francis wrote in a very short introduction to a new book in Italian.

President Donald Trump's decision to ask Congress to rescind billions of dollars in foreign aid spending is "extremely ill-advised," said a senior Catholic Relief Services official.