Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service

In an Easter message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would "transform our hearts and make us true peacemakers, especially for war-torn Ukraine."

Catholic bishops urged Australians to consider the nation’s most vulnerable people when voting in federal elections May 21.

Nearly 100 soldiers stormed the Sacred Heart Cathedral compound in Mandalay and forcibly entered the cathedral, archbishop's house, parish priest's residence and clergy center April 8.

Two members of a group called Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising said April 5 that five fetuses taken by the police a week earlier from the Capitol Hill residence of one of the activists were "proof of illegal abortions" being performed at a Washington abortion clinic.

A Catholic priest in the Philippines was found unconscious and tied up in his car after being reported missing two days earlier, said police, who suspect he was the victim of a kidnap attempt.

Pope Francis has named Cardinal Peter Turkson the new chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, two groups of top-level scholars and experts who promote studies on issues of concern to the Vatican.

HAMBURG, Germany -- Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx has called for a change in Catholic teaching on homosexuality, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA.

A Paris court sentenced four men in connection with the 2016 killing of Fr. Jacques Hamel, giving them sentences ranging from eight years to life in prison.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary during a penitential prayer service in St. Peter's Basilica March 25, the Vatican said.

LVIV, Ukraine-- "I've come with the three most sophisticated Gospel weapons: prayer, fasting and alms," Cardinal Konrad Krajewski told reporters in Western Ukraine March 10 as he prepared to head toward Kyiv and other cities under Russian bombardment.