VATICAN CITY – The sacredness of human life is so absolute that performing or helping procure an abortion or attempting suicide is an obstacle to ordination as a Catholic priest, even if the man was not Catholic at the time the events occurred, said a new Vatican ruling.

VATICAN CITY – Though it has no juridical power, Pope Francis' committee on protecting children has discovered it has consultative punch.

WASHINGTON – Religion is big bucks — worth $1.2 trillion annually to the American economy, according to the first comprehensive study to tabulate such a figure.

VATICAN CITY – The current economic model that places profit over the common good of all human beings must change in order to confront the challenges the world is facing today, a Vatican official said.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis thanked a group of bishops in Argentina for providing their priests with concrete guidelines for implementing the section of his apostolic exhortation on the family about circumstances in which divorced and civilly remarried couples might eventually be allowed to receive Communion.

VATICAN CITY – In a brief outdoor ceremony, Pope Francis administered the sacrament of confirmation to 16-year-old Giuseppe Chiolo, who had come to the Vatican by ambulance from Florence.

VATICAN CITY – Members of the Pope's commission for child protection, including an abuse survivor, have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the church about best practices.

ROME – A room with a view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from a monastery atop the Aventine Hill is very nice, but Abbot Gregory Polan knows he will miss his brother monks at Conception Abbey in Missouri very, very much.

In late August, as the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks loomed, religious leaders tuned into a webinar to prepare themselves for a possible future disaster.

CHICAGO – Kenneth A. Briggs has been on the “Godbeat” for years, as a religion reporter for Newsday, as religion editor at The New York Times and now as a contributor to the National Catholic Reporter.