IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Tennessee Highway Patrol, handout via Reuters By GATLINBURG, Tenn. (CNS) — Catholic parishioners in the Diocese of Knoxville are among those who have lost homes and businesses in the wildfires that ravaged tourist areas in the Great Smoky Mountains region Nov. 29, said Bishop Richard F. Stika …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano, handout By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The morning after screening his film, “Silence,” for about 300 Jesuits, the U.S. director Martin Scorsese had a private audience with Pope Francis. During the 15-minute audience Nov. 30, Pope Francis told Scorsese that he had read Japanese …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Upholding the truth and moral values isn’t easy, especially for young people, Pope Francis said. “But with God’s help and with the sincere will to do good, every obstacle can be overcome,” he told international students and those who minister to them. Students …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — More than 70 presidents at Catholic colleges and universities have signed a statement pledging their support for students attending their schools who are legally protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Christina Gray, Catholic San Francisco By Christina Gray SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — Thomas Myron Hooker lived the last 20 years of his life without a roof over his head, but his death proved he was hardly without a home. Hundreds of people — church families, neighbors, shopkeepers and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rick Musacchio, Tennessee Register By Theresa Laurence NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — As the American people continue to unpack exactly what the election of Donald Trump means for the country, those who work with vulnerable populations such as refugees and immigrants have serious concerns and questions about what the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rhina Guidos By WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a video message, Cuban President Raul Castro announced the Nov. 25 death of his 90-year-old brother and longtime Cuban leader and Communist icon whom many in Latin America know by just one name: Fidel. “It is with great sorrow that I …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Shiraaz Mohamed, EPA By Bronwen Dachs CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — Hunger levels are so severe in drought-ridden southern Madagascar that many people in remote villages have eaten almost nothing but cactus fruit for up to four years, said a Catholic Relief Services official. Eating this fruit …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Will Kirk By Christopher Gunty BALTIMORE (CNS) — In October 1791, five men began studies for the priesthood at the first seminary in the United States, just a couple years after the Diocese of Baltimore was established as the first in the country in 1789. At the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tom Tracy By Ana Rodriguez-Soto MIAMI (CNS) — While many celebrated loudly on the streets, the death of Fidel Castro triggered a more subdued reaction among the Cuban exiles who attended the noon Mass Nov. 26 at the National Shrine of Our Lady Charity. “Today is a day …