IMAGE: CNS photo/Francisco Lara, Catholic Sentinel By Rocio Rios PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — Father Raul Marquez had never seen anything like it. Eight men walked to the front door of St. Peter Church in Southeast Portland Jan. 29 and began bellowing during the Spanish Mass. Dressed like hunters, they accused …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Marking the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave, Pope Francis urged Christians to help victims of human trafficking and migrants, especially the Rohingya people being chased from Myanmar. For the Catholic Church, St. Bakhita’s feast day, Feb. 8, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Andy Telli, Tennessee Register By Andy Telli NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) — A wave of demographic change is sweeping through the Catholic Church in the United States. According to projections, in 20 years, half of American Catholics will be Hispanic. The Diocese of Nashville, like many dioceses, is already …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By IRVING, Texas (CNS) — The Boy Scouts of America’s new policy to accept members based on their gender identity will have no impact on Scouting units sponsored by the Catholic Church, said the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. The Boy Scouts announced Jan. 30 …

IMAGE: By David Agren SALTILLO, Mexico (CNS) — Edelmiro Cardona hardly had any time to flee his native Honduras with his brother when gang members came calling. Cardona, who left behind a wife and 4-year-old daughter, explained how his brother had built a house and rented it, only to have …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Felipe Trueba, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Without making room for God’s word in their heart, people will never be able to welcome and love all human life, Pope Francis said. “Each life that we encounter is a gift deserving acceptance, respect and love,” the …

By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — The resignation of the president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests opens the door for a new generation of leaders, said a top volunteer within the organization. “SNAP is full of vibrant leaders,” Joelle Casteix, the organization’s Western regional director, told …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — To offer clearly and accurately the Catholic Church’s positions on abortion, contraception, genetic engineering, fertility treatments, vaccines, frozen embryos and other life issues, the Vatican released an expanded and updated guide of the church’s bioethical teachings. The “New Charter for Health Care Workers” …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A culture that protects life from conception to natural death is the only answer to the idea that some lives are expendable due to inconvenience or population control, Pope Francis said. Following in the path of St. Teresa of …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis named Archbishop Angelo Becciu, Vatican substitute secretary of state, as his special delegate and sole spokesman to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. “Until the end of your mandate, that is until the conclusion of the extraordinary …