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August 1, 2016
CANTERBURY, England – A counterterrorism expert charged by the British government with investigating the spread of Islamist extremism warned of a threat to national security if a group of unnamed imams continues circulating hate books to young Muslims in prison.
VATICAN CITY – A papal think tank is convening a summit to tackle the threat to global stability posed by today's refugee crisis.
WASHINGTON – A small independent Catholic college in Escondido, California, has joined the opponents of a state law aimed at banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by depriving colleges of state and federal student-aid funds.
PHILADELPHIA – Since the late 1970s, the political battle lines in the culture war have been clearly drawn and easily understood.
WASHINGTON – Father Jacques Hamel's gruesome murder in northern France July 26 – by men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State – prompted sorrow and outrage from Muslim leaders around the world.
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM KRAKOW, Poland – An economy that focuses on the God of money, not human beings, is the foundation of terrorism, Pope Francis said.
August 2, 2016
ROME – Pope Francis says he will not address sexual abuse allegations against the Vatican’s finance minister, Cardinal George Pell, until Australian judicial authorities complete their investigation.
“SDM Krakow 2016” flags flying from every street lamp, banners with Pope Francis’ picture above the doors of numerous churches, and groups of youth from all over the world singing hymns from every corner of Poland- this is just a small portion of the incredible transformation I had the pleasure of witnessing over my past month here.
KRAKOW, Poland – Panama, which will host World Youth Day in 2019, is a small country, but the head of its bishops' conference has no doubts the church will be able to organize the event.
Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass in Krakow, Poland, on Sunday - World Youth Day - for a crowd of pilgrim faithful estimated at upward of one million people. The theme of the Holy Father's remarks to the gathered youth was how to overcome obstacles to building a real relationship with Jesus - whether they be obstacles that arise in one's own soul or obstacles one will inevitably encounter in the world and in society.
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has appointed six men and six women to a commission to study the issue of women deacons, particularly their ministry in the early church.
ROUEN, France – During the Aug. 2 funeral Mass for Father Jacques Hamel, killed a week earlier by men claiming allegiance to the Islamic State, Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen stressed the need for forgiveness.
VATICAN CITY – As World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow wrapped up, Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, the retired success to St. John Paul II as archbishop of the host city, died Aug. 2 at the age of 89.
WASHINGTON – While Catholics mourn the senseless killing of a beloved French priest church leaders have emphasized that shock and grief over this attack cannot fuel hatred against Muslims or immigrants.
August 3, 2016
WASHINGTON – Security tops the list of what Christians of Iraq and Syria want before they'll consider returning to areas they fled when the Islamic State and other extremist groups took over.
Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus fraternal order and one of the most influential lay Catholics in the church, has said that abortion outweighs all other issues in the presidential campaign and Catholics cannot vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights.
Two weeks ago I left my home in Mission, BC, about an hour outside of Vancouver, and embarked on my pilgrimage to Kraków, Poland. There I would meet with two million other Catholics, Pope Francis and Christ Himself in the Eucharist. The prospect of seeing old friends at Kraków Airport and spending the next two weeks with them in a foreign country was enough to get me excited and yet there was something else that was calling me there. I was going to Poland, and I would spend two weeks in hard core prayer mode with the big guy asking Him all the big questions I needed answers to. Yes, I was finally going to get it all figured out. But no. That didn’t happen. Not even close.
VATICAN CITY – For the young people who will attend World Youth Day 2019 in Panama, the life and martyrdom of Blessed Oscar Romero is a shining example of Christian faith in the midst of struggles, said several bishops from Panama.
TORONTO – Cardinal Marc Ouellet, once strongly identified with conservative resistance to any change to the ban on communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to Amoris Laetitia, the controversial exhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods on the family.
VATICAN CITY – A more important prize than a gold medal is up for grabs at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro: a chance to experience solidarity and contribute to the realization that all people are members of one human family, Pope Francis said.