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, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/A. Bracchetti, Governatorato S.C.V. via The Metropolitan Museum of Art By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci with a painting by the artist that will draw crowds but also …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After current supplies run out, Vatican City State will no longer be selling any single-use plastic items on its tiny territory. While the European Union pledged in May to ban single-use plastic starting in 2021, the Vatican had already …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jose Luis Gonzalez, Reuters By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Trump administration announced the U.S. departments of Justice and Homeland Security are adopting an interim "third country rule" requiring immigrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to first apply for refugee status in another country. News that the rule …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy By Doreen Abi Raad BEIRUT (CNS) — The first time a band of Islamic State militants "visited" the monks, they presented the monks with a kind of suggestion, in a nonthreatening manner: "Why don’t you become a Muslim?" Already, the four monks at the ancient Syriac …

IMAGE: CNS photo/ICE, Charles Reed via Reuters By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — Many Catholic and other faith leaders noted that the Gospel reading for July 14 — the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was to carry out deportation orders for some immigrants — was the parable of the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/David Mercado, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Praying that Catholics would understand and act on "the inseparable bond" between love of God and love of neighbor, Pope Francis again appealed for a solution to the crisis in Venezuela. "We pray that the Lord will inspire …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Chris Cugini, Living Bread Radio By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholics hear hymns in church, but hardly ever on the radio. Now they can augment their weekly diet of hymnody through a new audio web streaming service called Great Catholic Music. The service launched March 1, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Chilean Presidency via Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the Catholic Church in Chile continues to deal with the fallout of clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up, the Chilean government passed a law removing the statute of limitations on sex abuse crimes against …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — The papal vicar for Rome has asked every pastor in the diocese to form a "pastoral team" of about a dozen "courageous explorers" to help launch a new neighborhood missionary outreach. "Don’t go looking for those who have shown they …