Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service

NEW YORK – Behind the opening credits of "The Young Pope," a naked baby boy crawls over a sea of infant mannequins, and a man dressed as the Roman pontiff emerges at the other end.

JERUSALEM – Christians have a responsibility to oppose the construction of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, said bishops from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

ROME – The three-step process to elect a new prelate for Opus Dei, the predominantly lay organization, will begin Jan. 21 with a consultation involving more than three dozen women leaders.

VATICAN CITY – The overwhelming majority of sainthood causes the past decade have originated in Italy, said the head of the Vatican office responsible for investigating the causes.

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jurors unanimously agreed to sentence Dylann Roof to death for killing nine black churchgoers.

ATLANTA – Olga Woltering, a bedrock member of her parish and the Atlanta Cursillo movement and beloved to her family and many friends, was among five people killed in the Jan. 6 shooting at a Florida airport.

MANILA, Philippines – The Archdiocese of Manila will build a rehabilitation centre for drug dependents amid Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.

VATICAN CITY – In the wake of a deadly riot in a Brazilian jail, Pope Francis called for all prisons to offer dignified living conditions and be places for true rehabilitation.

COCHIN, India – The church in India's Kerala state has formed a group of priests, nuns and laypeople to respond to the pastoral needs of transgender people, reported ucanews.com.

PHILADELPHIA – Jesuit Father Joseph Fitzmyer, a leading Catholic biblical scholar, died Dec. 24 at Manresa Hall, a Jesuit infirmary in Philadelphia. He was 96.