IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Each week dozens of newlyweds, dressed again in their wedding gowns and tuxedoes, come to the Vatican to receive a special papal blessing as they begin their lives together. “It’s always been a dream of mine, since I was …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican summit on organ trafficking called for greater efforts to prevent the exploitation of those vulnerable to corrupt health professionals and criminal networks making the sale of human organs possible. “We, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences summit on …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — Vergie and Roger Davis of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in New Orleans East, who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, have been through natural disasters of near biblical proportions before. In 1982, an electrical …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Stringer, EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — No country is immune to the trafficking of organs, which has become a global problem that demands a concerted and cooperative response, said a number of speakers at a Vatican summit. To encourage nations to create, tighten or implement …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Yeganeh Torbati, Reuters By WASHINGTON (CNS) — As President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum intended to restrict the entry of terrorists coming to the United States in the guise of refugees, the action brought quick response from Catholic and other religious leaders. The largest response came from …

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 …