IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) — Pope Francis met in private Jan. 16 with survivors of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy, a Vatican spokesman said, but his actions threatened to be overshadowed by controversy over a Chilean bishop. Greg Burke, the spokesman, said the pope …

IMAGE: CNS/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — In remarks broadcast to the March for Life from the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump said that his administration “will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.” …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Barbara J. Fraser PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (CNS) — Pope Francis called on indigenous people of the Amazon to work with missionaries and bishops to shape a church with an “Amazonian and indigenous” face. The pope pledged the church’s “whole-hearted option for the defense of life, the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a homily at the Jan. 18 Mass that opened the National Prayer Vigil for Life. Like “Pastor King,” as Cardinal Dolan referred to …

By Gail Finke A new division at the federal Department of Health and Human Services will “restore federal enforcement of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom,” according to HHS Acting Secretary Eric Hargan. Announced Jan. 18, the division is part of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By NEW YORK (CNS) — Charlie Camosy, associate professor in the theology department at Jesuit-run Fordham University, spoke to Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, in advance of this year’s annual march in Washington Jan. 19. She talked about changes in the event and the …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO IQUIQUE, Chile (CNS) — Love was literally in the air as Pope Francis performed an impromptu wedding ceremony at 36,000 feet aboard his flight in Chile. During his flight to Iquique Jan. 18, the pope was approached by …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a message of support for the March for Life in Washington, a Vatican official praised “the tens of thousands” of participants for their witness to the “value of every human life” and for upholding the dignity of life from conception to …

By Gail Finke The Toronto Right to Life Association filed a suit against the Canadian government this week, alleging that a change to funding the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program amounts to government discrimination against churches and other religious groups that condemn abortion and hold conservative positions on social issues, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Chicago Catholic By Joyce Duriga CHICAGO (CNS) — Over 5,000 people from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and other Midwestern states gathered Jan. 14 in Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago for the annual March for Life Chicago commemorating the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing …