IMAGE: CNS photo/Jonathan Drake, Reuters By WASHINGTON (CNS) — The chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees Feb. 24 praised President Donald Trump’s repeal of the Obama administration’s directive on transgender access to bathrooms. The guidance, issued last May by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — When St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Friday, as it does about every seven years, the Lenten rule requiring Catholics to abstain from meat on Fridays collides with the long-held tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage. The two …

IMAGE: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Reaching out to and guiding couples in cohabitation with tenderness and compassion is essential to promoting and defending the sanctity of marriage, Pope Francis said. Couples who have chosen to live together without getting married in the church “are, in …

IMAGE: CNS/Maria Grazia Picciarella, pool By Junno Arocho Esteves ROME (CNS) — The path toward Christian unity can’t be found isolated in a laboratory hashing out theological differences, but rather by walking together on a common journey, Pope Francis said. While theological dialogue is necessary, Catholics and Anglicans can continue …

IMAGE: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — For decades, the visits bishops are required to make to the Vatican were known for their formality and routine style, but Pope Francis launched “a whole new style of ‘ad limina’ visits,” a Chilean bishop said. The bishops were …

IMAGE: CNS photo/NASA handout via Reuters By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The quest to find life on other planets got a boost when astronomers confirmed the existence of at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star just 40 light years away. Three of the planets are …

WASHINGTON—In response to the recent rise in anti-Semitic actions that have taken place across the U.S., the Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski, Bishop of Springfield and Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, has issued the following statement expressing solidarity and support for our Jewish brothers and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Access to clean drinking water is a basic human right and a key component in protecting human life, Pope Francis said. “The right to water is essential for the survival of persons and decisive for the future of humanity,” …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Siegfried Modola, Reuters By Simon Caldwell MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — South Sudan’s Catholic bishops asked for the world’s help to prevent mass starvation that threatens the lives of more than 5 million people. In a separate statement, they also said the looming famine was a man-made catastrophe. They …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Tyler Orsburn WASHINGTON (CNS) — Mario Gamboa is on the move. There are too many words to read, and too few Latinos who can read them. His first stop, the Guatemala consulate in Silver Spring, Maryland. His second visit, a Spanish AM radio station across …