Jonathan Luxmoore

The Catholic Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina has urged the country to improve human rights and political representation after upcoming elections, 23 years after the country was divided by a bloody war.

The plight of the West African country of Cameroon, where English-speaking separatists have been fighting French-speaking government forces, is worsening. Church-brokered peace talks there were postponed in August, though Cardinal Christian Tumi of Douala pledged he and his Muslim and Protestant partners would go on seeking a solution as "politically neutral servants of God."

The Rwandan Catholic bishops' conference urged the government of President Paul Kagame to preserve religious rights after government officials closed thousands of churches and mosques.

Half a century after Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, church leaders in Eastern Europe continue to vigorously defend the encyclical, in contrast to many commentators in the U.S. and Western Europe.

With over 3 million people landing annually on Mont-Saint-Michel, the site provides a magnet for pilgrims seeking a link with those Christian roots, as well as an opportunity for quiet contemplation away from the rush of contemporary life.

When Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took office June 2, Spanish Catholic leaders pledged readiness to cooperate wherever possible, despite a history of conflicts with his party.

A Catholic priest involved in the sainthood cause of a Polish cardinal has rejected claims the cardinal fostered anti-Semitism and refused help for endangered Jews.

Known by its Basque acronym, ETA, the militant separatist movement with Catholic ties has apologized to its victims — more than 850 killed over five decades — and announced its dismantling.

Despite high-level interchurch closeness between pope and patriarch, on the local level "the Catholic Church still faces great challenges merely building bridges with Russian society."

Germany's Catholic Church said it would review its employment system after top European judges warned it could violate anti-discrimination laws by requiring staffers to be religious.

The president of the Polish bishops' conference cautioned Polish and Hungarian political leaders against fostering nationalism and xenophobia as both countries face European Union sanctions over their alleged authoritarian direction.

Francis at Five Years: Over the five years since his March 2013 election, as the first pope of the global south, Francis has left the world in little doubt where his church stands on key contemporary issues.

Poland's leading Jewish philosopher urged the Catholic Church to condemn a wave of anti-Jewish feeling, sparked by a new law on responsibility for Holocaust crimes.

In Poland, scholars and leaders weigh in after a Catholic newspaper ran a priest's attack on leaders of both church and state, amid new data showing a drop in Mass attendance, and ongoing criticism of the church's ties with Poland's government.

Making Peace: In places like Congo and the Central African Republic, church leaders have been deeply involved in peacemaking, in a mark of the engagement fostered by Pope Francis.

The president of Croatia's bishops' conference condemned "unjust verdicts" at a United Nations war crimes trial, after a general publicly committed suicide when his appeal was rejected.

All over Europe, local leaders seek to adapt structurally and pastorally to falling numbers and dwindling participation. Elsewhere too, clustering and merging parishes have offered a potential solution; and while they have been tackled differently across the continent, those behind the changes are determined to see them in a positive light.

Though often viewed as an epoch of cultural and spiritual emptiness, Soviet rule in Russia and Eastern Europe produced profound Christian works of prose and poetry, offering vital reflections on a resilient faith.

Belgium's Brothers of Charity Group, which runs 15 centers for psychiatric patients, has rejected a Vatican order to stop offering euthanasia.

After Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, ended his official trip to Russia, there are signs that not everyone is satisfied with the tone of the four-day visit or confident about its benefits for Catholics.