By Mitch Finley VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Although prisoners must pay a price for their crimes, incarceration must not be used as a method of torture but rather an opportunity to become contributing members of society, Pope Francis said. Punishment can be fruitful only when inmates are helped to look …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — By virtue of its very definition, marriage can only be between a man and a woman, Pope Francis said in a new book-length interview. “We cannot change it. This is the nature of things,” not just in the church, but in human history, …

By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Environmental destruction is a sign of a “morally decaying scenario” in which too many people ignore or deny that, from the beginning, “God intended humanity to cooperate in the preservation and protection of the natural environment,” said the leaders of the Catholic and …

By NEW YORK (CNS) — At the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Lower Manhattan, Polina Maller, 11, took a few moments from her violin lesson to talk about her appreciation for music. “It’s fun, and I like it. Music makes me feel like I’m free inside; it makes …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Cindy Wooden By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic social teaching has developed over the past century as new problems — human, social, economic and environmental — come clearer into focus and call out for a faith-based response. Pope Francis’ contribution, with his encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Trudy Lampson handout via Reuters By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis offered his prayers for the people of Texas and Louisiana struggling to cope with the devastating impact of Hurricane Harvey and he praised all those engaged in rescuing and caring for the thousands of people …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — “Excessive inequality” threatens cooperation among all people in society “and the social pact it supports,” said Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Florida, in the U.S. bishops’ annual Labor Day statement. In the message, Bishop Dewane cited the words of …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Christopher Riggs, Catholic Advance By Christopher M. Riggs WICHITA, Kan. (CNS) — Sister Marita Rother really didn’t get to know her brother, Father Stanley Rother, as a priest until she visited him in Guatemala in the 1970s. She was at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ convent …

By Kurt Jensen WASHINGTON (CNS) — Frustrated by federal court inaction and the Department of Justice blocking the way, the Catholic Benefits Association has called on President Trump to intervene directly in the legal battle over the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. “This is a problem that’s easily remedied,” Douglas …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters By James Ramos HOUSTON (CNS) — The 200-home community of McDade Estates down the road from Sacred Heart Parish had just hours to evacuate Aug. 27. City officials knocked door-to-door, alerting residents to escape to higher ground. Hours later, authorities released historic …