IMAGE: CNS photo/White Helmets, social media via Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to put an end to his country’s eight-year-long conflict and seek reconciliation for the good of the nation and its vulnerable people. "The Holy Father asks the president …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tim Bishop, Catholic Spirit) By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston announced July 19 sanctions from the Vatican — including taking away the faculties of celebrating Mass — against a former West Virginia bishop who stepped down last year under a cloud of allegations of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Giorgos Moutafis, Reuters By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — News that officials in the Trump administration are considering "zeroing out" the number of refugees accepted by the United States brought an immediate outcry from Catholic and other faith-based agencies urging the government to reconsider such a move. "The …

IMAGE: CNS Photo/Paul Jeffrey By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — By convening a special synod on the Amazon at the Vatican in October, Pope Francis will be giving greater exposure to the church’s deep concern for the people and the ecosystem on which they depend. Like other synods with …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — A few hundred Catholic activists, including dozens of women religious, gathered outside at the foot of the U.S. Capitol July 18 urging politicians to stop its "inhumane treatment" of immigrant children at the border and reminding people of faith to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Giancarlo Bernini By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — For Giancarlo Bernini, a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, things are not always as they appear and that’s a good thing because it is how he plans to make a living. The magician, who has …

IMAGE: CNS Photo/Paul Jeffrey By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The objective of the upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Amazon is to highlight the need for religious, political and social leaders to come together and defend the dignity of indigenous men, women and children and an ecosystem …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Larry Downing, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who served on the court for nearly 35 years, died July 16 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at age 99 after suffering complications from a stroke the previous day. The justice, who retired …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By James Ramos HOUSTON (CNS) — At the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, Jesuit Brother Robert Macke finds his work as the curator of meteorites for the Vatican Observatory — formally founded in 1891 by Pope Leo XIII — allows him to, as the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — When Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong gingerly stepped onto the surface of the moon July 20, 1969, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno had no idea that some day he would become the director of the Vatican Observatory. Sixteen at the time, …