IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Continuing his occasional series of “Mercy Friday” visits, Pope Francis surprised the students at a school renamed in March in honor of a student who died of leukemia at the age of 11. For the visit May 25 to …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — It is a contradiction to claim that promoting access to safe abortions is somehow protecting the human rights of women and girls, a Vatican representative said. “In fact, abortion denies the unborn child his or her most basic right — to life itself,” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tamino Petelinsek, courtesy Knights of Columbus By Zita Ballinger Fletcher Veterans taking part in the 2018 Warriors to Lourdes pilgrimage to France said the journey has positively influenced their lives and benefited those around them. Maj. Jeremy Haynes, a first-time spiritual pilgrim and Lourdes visitor, said he is …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Marie Mischel, Intermountain Catholic By Marie Mischel OGDEN, Utah (CNS) — Each year for the past decade, a group of Boy Scouts in Ogden have spent a day walking from house of worship to house of worship, learning how the Ten Commandments are put into practice in different …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — This year’s National Catholic Prayer breakfast took on a decidedly Kansas flavor, as Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City and Sam Brownback, a former House and Senate member and governor of Kansas, addressed nearly 1,000 gathered at a Washington …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Paul Haring BERGAMO, Italy (CNS) — Accompanied by Bishop Francesco Beschi of Bergamo and escorted by both Italian and Vatican police officers, the glass coffin containing the body of St. John XXIII left the Vatican early May 24 for a 370-mile drive to Bergamo. The …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will meet with five priests who suffered abuse by Chilean Father Fernando Karadima or his followers, the Vatican said. The pope will meet June 1-3 with “five priests who were victims of abuses of power, of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Natalie Battaglia By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — A year into his priesthood, Father Matt O’Donnell was named a pastor. Days before his 27th birthday in 2013, Father O’Donnell arrived at St. Columbanus Parish in Chicago’s South Side Park Manor neighborhood and since then has embraced his …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis asked people to pray for Catholics in China so that they may be able to live their faith with serenity and in full communion with the pope. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — The executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services gives credit to a group of moderate Republicans in Congress trying to revive interest in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals legislation, or DACA, by their efforts to bring not …