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Bishop Michael J. Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., is seen in this 2012 file photo. On July 19 the Vatican announced disciplinary measures for the bishop, who retired in 2018 amid allegations of sexual misconduct and financial improprieties.

Pope Francis issues sanctions against former West Virginia bishop

WASHINGTON -- The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston announced July 19 sanctions from the Vatican -- including taking away the faculties of celebrating Mass -- against a former West Virginia bishop who stepped down last year under a cloud of allegations of sexual and financial misconduct.

This interior view of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module shows astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot, during the lunar landing mission July 20, 1969. This picture was taken by astronaut Neil Armstrong, commander.

Astronauts found God in space

I didn't realize there was a moon-landing Bible verse until my pastor mentioned it a few weeks ago.

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed U.S. flag during an Apollo 11 extra-vehicular activity on the lunar surface July 20, 1969.

Moon landing inspired a country and a career in aerospace engineering

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Retired Maj. Gen. Mike Wiedemer was an aerospace engineering and ROTC student at the University of Notre Dame in July 1969 when Apollo 11 launched and Neil Armstrong took a "giant leap for mankind" by becoming the first man to walk on the moon.

Children jump from a rickety bridge into a river near Anapu, in Brazil's northern Para state. This area was forest land until recent decades, when the expansion of the agrarian frontier led to the steady destruction of this part of the Amazon's rain forest.

Synod emphasizes church's mission to defend the vulnerable, cardinal says

VATICAN CITY -- The objective of the upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Amazon is to highlight the need for religious, political and social leaders to come together and defend the dignity of indigenous men, women and children and an ecosystem that is crucial to the environment, said Peruvian Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo.

Matteo Bruni of the Vatican Press Office, center, listens as journalists honor him with a special song at the airport during Pope Francis' visit in Sofia, Bulgaria, May 7, 2019. Bruni, who has helped organize and coordinate media presence on papal trips since 2013, has been appointed the new director of the Vatican Press Office.

Pope Francis appoints new Vatican press office director

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis appointed Matteo Bruni to serve as director of the Vatican press office, replacing Alessandro Gisotti, who had been serving as interim director since Dec. 31.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, then-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is pictured before Pope Francis' general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in this Nov. 19, 2014, file photo.

Full text of Cardinal Müller's analysis on the working document of the Amazon synod

VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 and 2017, presented an analysis with a series of objections and criticisms of the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, of the Synod on the Amazon, to be held in Rome in October.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, then-prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, attends a Vatican news conference in this Oct. 25, 2016, file photo.

Cardinal Müller releases statement criticizing Amazon synod document

VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- That the working document for October’s Synod of Bishops calls the Amazon region a source of revelation is a “false teaching,” Cardinal Gerhard Müller said Tuesday.

Jesuit Brother Bob Macke and Jesuit Father Gabriele Gionti, an astronomer, prepare to give journalists a tour of the Vatican Observatory at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sept. 28, 2018. Brother Macke said that by studying the universe, "we can better appreciate the God who created it."

Being curator of meteorites allows Jesuit to 'find God' in all things

HOUSTON -- At the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, Jesuit Brother Robert Macke finds his work as the curator of meteorites for the Vatican Observatory -- formally founded in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII -- allows him to, as the Jesuit saying goes, "find God in all things."

A woman holds water bottles next to a trash can under the St. Peter's Square colonnade at the Vatican July 16, 2019. A Vatican official said the Vatican is collecting 22 pounds of plastic a day from trash containers under the colonnade.

Vatican City State set to end sale of single-use plastics

VATICAN CITY -- After current supplies run out, Vatican City State will no longer be selling any single-use plastic items on its tiny territory.

A worker descends into the tomb of Princess Sophie von Hohenlohe, who died in 1836, during a forensic investigation in the Teutonic Cemetery at the Vatican July 11, 2019. Two tombs were opened based on a tip that the remains of Emanuela Orlandi, who disappeared in 1983, could be buried there.

Missing bones found in Vatican investigation

VATICAN CITY (CNA) -- The Vatican has found two ossuaries believed to maybe belong to the German noblewomen whose tombs were found empty earlier this week.

Cardinals wait in line to meet Pope Francis during his annual pre-Christmas meeting with top officials of the Roman Curia at the Vatican in this Dec. 21, 2017, file photo. The pope is planning a major reorganization of the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis' curial reforms: Changing attitudes, not just structures

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis' plan for the reform of the Roman Curia will change the names of several offices and merge a few of them, but the biggest change it hopes to spark is one of attitude.

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