IMAGE: CNS photo/Lise Alves By Lise Alves RIO DE JANEIRO (CNS) — High above the city, beneath the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio Cardinal Orani Tempesta blessed the Olympic torch, held by Brazil’s former Olympic volleyball player, Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado. “This is the moment for us to surpass …

IMAGE: CNS photo/www.thesatanictemple.com By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — It’s 3 p.m. Do you know where your children are? Parents, schools and school districts are paying even closer attention to after-school activities ever since a group called the Satanic Temple announced in early August that it plans to introduce after-school …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican will anticipate the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata with a special postage stamp, which will be released Sept. 2, two days before Pope Francis officially declares her a saint. The Vatican Philatelic …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Michael Collopy By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The poor, the suffering and those who minister to them will be at the center of celebrations leading up to the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata at the Vatican. The main event — the canonization Mass — …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By ASSISI, Italy (CNS) — Celebrating how God’s mercy has been experienced for 800 years in a tiny stone church in Assisi, Pope Francis said people need to experience God’s forgiveness and start learning how to forgive others. “Too many people are caught up in resentment and harbor …

IMAGE: CNS/Greg Tarczynski By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — To help before tragedy occurs, a Washington-based priest and psychologist is conducting a free webinar at the end of August to prepare priests, religious and other church members to deal with the trauma that follows a natural disaster, an act of …

By Michael Swan TORONTO (CNS) — Cardinal Marc Ouellet, whose writings were once strongly identified with resistance to any change to the ban on Communion for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to “Amoris Laetitia,” the apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has appointed six men and six women to a commission to study the issue of women deacons, particularly their ministry in the early church. In addition to the 12 members named Aug. 2, the pope tapped …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Dale Gavlak By Dale Gavlak IRBIL, Iraq (CNS) — The upcoming military offensive to root out Islamic State militants from Mosul and surrounding villages will be a “huge challenge,” the United Nations says, as it expects about 1.5 million people to flee the warfare in a short amount …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Max Rossi, Reuters By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a world traumatized by war, young people gathered for World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, gave strong signs of hope and brotherhood, Pope Francis said. World Youth Day was a “prophetic sign for Poland and Europe” …