IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Every Christian should be grateful for the gift of his or her baptism, and that gratitude should draw them together to recognize that they are brothers and sisters and called to pursue holiness together, Pope Francis said. Welcoming an ecumenical pilgrimage …

Ponce, Puerto Rico, Jan 16, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Precariously resting on the edge of an altar leaning forward from the impact of the earthquake that struck Puerto Rico, a tabernacle was retrieved intact from a church in Puerto Rico and brought to safety. In the early hours of …

By Matt Hadro Washington D.C., Jan 16, 2020 / 03:55 pm (CNA).- The White House announced new rules from nine federal agencies Thursday to help ensure that religious groups have equal access to public benefit programs. On Jan. 16, Religious Freedom Day, President Donald Trump announced the rules “to protect …

IMAGE: CNS By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholics across the country are invited to take part in the 9 Days for Life is a novena for the protection of human life. Each day’s intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. The …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Jesus healed people of all sorts of physical ailments, but he always started with the essential — forgiving their sins, Pope Francis said. "We should take good care of our bodies, but also our souls," the pope said Jan. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tom Brenner, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Donald Trump announced his administration’s new guidance on prayer in public schools during a Jan. 16 event in the Oval Office on National Religious Freedom Day. Primarily, it will require states to report cases where public school students …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — On the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a Jan. 15 hearing to celebrate the act cited numerous successes — including the passage of four subsequent bills to further clamp down …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Supporting and supported by their bishops, 25 young adults from Minnesota and North Dakota made a pilgrimage "ad limina apostolorum" — to the threshold of the apostles — in mid-January. The delegation of women and men, single and married, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — God shows the greatest love and compassion for the greatest sinners, Pope Francis said. The Lord "has come precisely for us sinners and the greater the sinner you are, the closer the Lord is to you because he …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A true apostle is one who continues to be a courageous and joyful evangelizer even in the face of persecution and certain death, Pope Francis said. By choosing to close the Acts of the Apostles not with St. …