IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Paul Haring SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) — Where there is smoke, there is normally fire — but not always. Journalists covering Pope Francis’ visit in Santiago, Chile, added another tale Jan. 16 to their oral history of papal-trip misadventures. As a large tour bus carrying dozens of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Denis Balibouse Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Global leaders must implement policies that support the family and offer real opportunities for the growth and development of all people, Pope Francis told people attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “If we want a more …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM PERU (CNS) — Pope Francis apologized to victims of clergy sex abuse, saying he unknowingly wounded them by the way he defended a Chilean bishop accused of covering up abuse by his mentor. Speaking with journalists on his …

By Gail Finke All Ohio Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act Friday, and three of Ohio’s four Democrats voted against it. The fourth did not vote. The bill passed 241-183 with six Democrats voting for it and no Republicans voting …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Barbara J. Fraser LIMA, Peru (CNS) — Pope Francis took his message of hope to this sprawling, dusty capital of Peru, celebrating Mass within view of the rocky, waterless Andean slopes where most of the city’s poorest residents live. The day’s Scripture readings, in which Jonah …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) — Pope Francis met in private Jan. 16 with survivors of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy, a Vatican spokesman said, but his actions threatened to be overshadowed by controversy over a Chilean bishop. Greg Burke, the spokesman, said the pope …

IMAGE: CNS/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters By Julie Asher WASHINGTON (CNS) — In remarks broadcast to the March for Life from the White House Rose Garden, President Donald Trump said that his administration “will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.” …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Barbara J. Fraser PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (CNS) — Pope Francis called on indigenous people of the Amazon to work with missionaries and bishops to shape a church with an “Amazonian and indigenous” face. The pope pledged the church’s “whole-hearted option for the defense of life, the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York invoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during a homily at the Jan. 18 Mass that opened the National Prayer Vigil for Life. Like “Pastor King,” as Cardinal Dolan referred to …

By Gail Finke A new division at the federal Department of Health and Human Services will “restore federal enforcement of our nation’s laws that protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious freedom,” according to HHS Acting Secretary Eric Hargan. Announced Jan. 18, the division is part of …