Catholic News Service

Sts. Peter and Paul were great not just because of their zeal for the Gospel, but because they allowed Christ to enter their hearts and change their lives, Pope Francis said.

Religious freedom advocates released a charter declaring the right of every person around the world to freely believe -- or not believe -- religious tenets and join with others in a religious community and for believers and religious communities to live peacefully in society.

It is an understatement to say the people and staff of St. Joseph Parish will be living the crisis of the Surfside condominium collapse in a most intimate way for some time to come. No other Christian house of worship is so close to the ground zero of Champlain Towers South as St. Joseph.

Two more Catholic churches on First Nations land have been destroyed by fire, while fire damaged an Anglican church on First Nations land in northern British Columbia. Police are calling all the blazes "suspicious."

The U.S. Catholic Church may be missing out on an opportunity to increase and enrich its ranks if dioceses and parishes don't reach out to refugees, migrants, and people whose work demands that they travel. 

The June 19 attacks terrorized Reynosa — a city just south of McAllen, Texas, and long plagued by drug cartel violence — as marauding gunmen killed people going about their daily lives in three neighborhoods. The victims included a taxi driver, a nursing student and a group of bricklayers, according to Mexican media.

While the suffering brought on by the coronavirus pandemic continues to make headlines, there is another serious illness plaguing the world today that deserves attention, Pope Francis said.

Staff members with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami were on location and developing a response strategy June 24 near the stunning wreckage of a partially collapsed beachfront high-rise apartment building.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, asked Vice President Kamala Harris June 25 to engage with the faith community as partners on a path to bring relief and a compassionate solution to immigration issues in the Americas and to "hear the voices" of those turned away at the border.

Cardinal José Advíncula was installed as the new archbishop of Manila, the country's largest diocese, in a ceremony at the Philippine capital's historic cathedral June 24.

When a popular Italian rapper slammed the Vatican for opposing a proposed anti-homophobia bill, he told his more than 12.5 million Instagram followers that the Vatican owed Italy some 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion) in back property taxes, which the Vatican said was incorrect.

The Cowessess First Nation chief announced the discovery of up to 751 unmarked graves at the site of the Catholic residential school on its territory, the news coming almost a month after the discovery of 215 children's bodies buried at another residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia.

The president of the German bishops' conference said he personally assured Pope Francis that the Catholic Church in Germany does not want "to go its own way."

Officials overseeing Catholic Charities-connected housing initiatives are calling on Congress to boost funding and expand tax credits for affordable housing programs that serve older adults and homeless people.

The Maryland-based Catholic Legal Immigration Network announced June 22 it is joining forces with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to help people who are "stateless."

On June 20, communities across the world celebrated World Refugee Day, established by the U.N. as an international day to acknowledge the strength and courage of people forced to flee their home countries

Those who proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ are humble and trust in God, they do not heap conditions upon others or promote themselves as the only "keepers of the truth," Pope Francis said.

The Archdiocese of Berlin announced that it was temporarily suspending the work of its expert commission established to follow up on a legal report about sexual abuse in the archdiocese since 1946.

Writing to his peers, Catholics who have reached a venerable age like he has, Pope Francis told older Catholics that God is close to them and still has plans for their lives.

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.