IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — When Lent begins March 6, U.S. Catholics will likely be more than ready for it. This set-aside time for prayer and reflection — after all the church has been through in recent months — could provide both a healing balm …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Laura Ann Phillips By Laura Ann Phillips PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CNS) — A Catholic all-male secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago has adopted an unusual element in its student formation program: a traditional African warrior craft called kalinda, also known as stick fighting. Once banned among African slaves, kalinda …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy St. Francis DeSales High School By Tim Puet COLUMBUS, Ohio (CNS) — When it comes to upholding tradition and pride in a particular school, the Whalen family of suburban New Albany takes a back seat to no one. The Whalens stand alongside families in which it’s not …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — What makes a politician "Catholic" is not party affiliation, but dedication to promoting the common good, particularly through listening to and empowering people who often are overlooked, Pope Francis said. "I invite you to live your faith with great …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Lent is a good time to concentrate on fighting the urge to gossip about others and instead trying to correct one’s own faults and defects, Pope Francis said. Reciting the Angelus prayer at noon March 3 with pilgrims in St. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Declaring that the Catholic Church is unafraid of history, Pope Francis announced that documents in the Vatican Secret Archives relating to the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII will be open to scholars in 2020. Researchers, particularly those interested …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jim Bourg, Reuters By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Department of Homeland Security has filed notice that it is extending Temporary Protection Status for foreign nationals from El Salvador, Nicaragua, Haiti and Sudan until Jan. 2, 2020. The notice, published in the Federal Register March 1, said the extension …

By Liam McIntyre VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As robotics play an increasingly greater role in today’s world, their technological capabilities must not outpace ethical concerns, said a number of speakers at the Pontifical Academy for Life’s workshop on "Robo-ethics: Humans, Machines and Health." The two-day workshop, held during the academy’s …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jennifer Neville, The Catholic Virginian By Jennifer Neville HAMPTON, Va. (CNS) — "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Those words from Chapter 4 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians are words by which Melanie Paul lives. Deaf since she was 12, Paul has …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — Man does not live on bread alone. But on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, he’d better not add meat to the menu. To help Catholics observe Lenten abstinence rules, any fast-food restaurant worth its salt — and sodium …