By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Fortunetelling, like all occult practices, is strictly taboo at the Vatican; and prophecy is a rare gift among journalists. But Pope Benedict XVI‘s calendar for 2013 is already filling up with planned, probable or possible events. Here are 10

    The conservative online news service, Newsmax, is reporting late Friday that the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Obama administration must follow through on a vow to revise requirements for employers who offer health insurance to fund contraception for employees. Newsmax cited its source as

By John Stegeman His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is still fairly new to Twitter, but the pontiff has already set a record, beating out pop superstar Justin Bieber in re-tweets. Reuters reports that while the Pope still trails Bieber in followers (the Holy Father has 2.1 million followers to Bieber’s

Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After 20 children and six adults were shot dead in Connecticut, Pope Benedict XVI offered his condolences and prayers, urging all to dedicate themselves to acts of peace in the face of such “senseless violence.” After reciting the Angelus Dec. 17, the pope,

By Catholic News Service RALEIGH, N.C. (CNS) — The Catholic bishops of North Carolina said they were “deeply saddened” that a federal judge ruled the state cannot issue “Choose Life” license plates without offering a choice of plates with a different viewpoint. U.S. District Court Judge James C. Fox ruled

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — For the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., 2012 brought glimmers of hope that there might soon be a way to clear up their unsettled legal status. After nearly two decades of stymied efforts to fix what is widely

By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service MANCHESTER, England (CNS) — Catholic bishops in England and Wales said they strongly oppose a bill to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark — the president and vice-president of the Bishops’ Conference of

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI launched his very own Twitter account, sending a short inaugural message to his more than 1 million followers. “Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response.

Catholic News Service WASHINGTON ( — The Supreme Court will take up in the spring two cases over the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. In orders issued Dec. 7, the court agreed to hear a case over California’s Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, and one out of New York over

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican praised a United Nations vote making Palestine a non-member observer state but called for full recognition of Palestinian sovereignty as necessary for peace in the region. One hundred thirty-eight member states voted Nov. 29 to boost Palestine’s status