Catholic News Service

The Dedham District Court held a pretrial hearing Oct. 28 in the criminal sex abuse case of former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, who is facing three counts of sexually assaulting a teenager in the 1970s. McCarrick pleaded not guilty to the charges Sept. 3 at the court, but his presence at the hearing was waived. A second pretrial hearing was scheduled for Dec. 21.

To ensure all Catholics have an opportunity to share and to listen as part of the initial process leading up to the Synod of Bishops in 2023, the Vatican has extended the local phase by more than three months.

Catholic peace activists and policy experts have expressed apprehension that the United States has joined an accelerating rush to perfect new weapons.

The Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square this year will have a distinctly Indigenous, Andean look with the centerpiece being a "Hilipuska" baby Jesus.

The Vatican has again extended the period of time when people can earn a plenary indulgence for visiting a cemetery and praying for the souls of the faithful in purgatory.

Africa's Catholic bishops have criticized the appropriation of land, natural resources and other economic assets by private companies and called on national governments to show greater concern for local community.

The beauty of faith comes from opening one's heart to love and not fixating on following rules and regulations, Pope Francis said.

The Biden administration must issue an immediate termination of the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the "Remain in Mexico" policy, El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz said Oct. 25.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople met with Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory Oct. 25 in a chapel at Georgetown University.

Inspired by faith education, 16-year-old entrepreneurs run business on elbow grease, muscle and pedal power.

A Taiwanese official said the nation's relationship with the Vatican remains friendly through long-standing communication channels as a media report suggested China was pressuring the Vatican to sever ties.

A Vatican conference will gather both Christian and non-Christian historians and experts to delve deep into the history of the church in the first centuries of Christianity.

The social teaching of the Catholic Church can inspire new economic systems that are more "people-centered," Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis said he hopes to continue traveling next year, including making visits to countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia.

The Caravan of Mothers of the Disappeared helped spotlight the plight of the group of women, who made a stop in Washington Oct. 19 to meet with members of Congress.

Hundreds of alumni, benefactors and guests gathered on an October morning to celebrate the beginning of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary's centennial year.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments published an executive decree formalizing the responsibility of bishops' conferences for judging the accuracy and suitability of liturgical translations and adaptations.

A regional assembly of the Catholic Church in Mexico in November is expected to plot a course for the church in Latin America and the Caribbean as it heads toward landmark events in the coming years, including, in 2031, the 500th anniversary of Mary's appearance to St. Juan Diego. 

Pope Francis, Martin Scorsese, Jane Goodall and a group of less famous "over 70s" talk to young filmmakers about love in the first episode of a four-part documentary. 

Immigrant advocates recently walked away from an online meeting with Biden administration officials to protest a move that will revive a Trump-era policy blocking people seeking asylum from entering the U.S.