IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters By Jonathan Luxmoore WARSAW, Poland (CNS) — A close aide to St. John Paul II has vigorously defended the late pope’s handling of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and denied accusations that he ignored the problem during his 27-year pontificate. "Emerging opinions that John …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Thomas Mukoya, Reuters By Beth Griffin UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — Women should not be required to divest themselves of femininity to achieve empowerment and gender equality, according to panelists at a March 19 event at the United Nations. Women’s dignity and distinctiveness also must not be sacrificed to …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — One of the founders of liberation theology in Latin America said he supports an effort to declare St. Oscar Romero a doctor of the Catholic Church. During a March 18 livestream of an event celebrating the Salvadoran saint canonized in …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Josh Estey, Care International via Reuters By Bronwen Dachs CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — Two boys at a Catholic boarding school in Zimbabwe are among the more than 300 people killed in the aftermath of a cyclone that slammed into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in mid-March. Officials …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians have faith in a God who wants to and is able to transform the world, conquering evil with good, Pope Francis said. That is why "it makes sense to obey and abandon oneself" to God and his will, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis wanted to go to Morocco in December to draw attention to the need for international cooperation in assisting migrants and in alleviating the situations that force people to seek a better life outside their homeland. Protocol dictated that …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Eli Burakian, Dartmouth College By WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (CNS) — A Dartmouth College cosmologist and theoretical physicist, who considers himself a religious agnostic even though he has devoted his career to examining link between science, philosophy and spirituality in exploring the mystery of creation, is the 2019 Templeton …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Muhammad Hamed, Reuters By Dale Gavlak RAMTHA, Jordan (CNS) — As Syria’s civil war enters its ninth year, citizens in and outside the country find themselves in limbo. Catholic and other aid agencies are urging a swift resolution to the crisis. Caritas Syria is campaigning for "an immediate …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome is a sign of the Catholic Church’s commitment to caring for and protecting the dignity of the sick, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. Commemorating the hospital’s …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Natalie Hoefer, The Cr By Natalie Hoefer INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — Two women stood near the busy road on a chilly February morning in Indianapolis. A steady, penetrating mist — and sometimes an icy splash from a speeding car — made for a dampness that digs deep and lingers …