IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Tennessee Highway Patrol, handout via Reuters By Bill Brewer PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (CNS) — St. Mary’s Catholic Church was at ground zero in the wildfires that devastated parts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Nov. 28, and while flames reached to within yards of the tourist city church, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Catholic Herald By Patrick Downes HONOLULU (CNS) — “Our beloved country is at war. Our peaceful shores have been ruthlessly attacked, and all citizens are called upon to unite their efforts toward that peace for which we have all prayed, that peace which the world cannot give, and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/David Maung By WASHINGTON (CNS) — Prayer services and special Masses will be held in many dioceses across the country as the U.S. Catholic Church has asked that the Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe be a day of prayer with a focus on migrants and …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) — A Catholic military chaplain and historian says the attack on Pearl Harbor, even 75 years later, continues to rivet the attention of Americans because it is “such a powerful event.” As the anniversary of the Dec. 7, 1941, attack …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Tennessee Highway Patrol, handout via Reuters By GATLINBURG, Tenn. (CNS) — Catholic parishioners in the Diocese of Knoxville are among those who have lost homes and businesses in the wildfires that ravaged tourist areas in the Great Smoky Mountains region Nov. 29, said Bishop Richard F. Stika …

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano, handout By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The morning after screening his film, “Silence,” for about 300 Jesuits, the U.S. director Martin Scorsese had a private audience with Pope Francis. During the 15-minute audience Nov. 30, Pope Francis told Scorsese that he had read Japanese …

By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Upholding the truth and moral values isn’t easy, especially for young people, Pope Francis said. “But with God’s help and with the sincere will to do good, every obstacle can be overcome,” he told international students and those who minister to them. Students …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — More than 70 presidents at Catholic colleges and universities have signed a statement pledging their support for students attending their schools who are legally protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Christina Gray, Catholic San Francisco By Christina Gray SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) — Thomas Myron Hooker lived the last 20 years of his life without a roof over his head, but his death proved he was hardly without a home. Hundreds of people — church families, neighbors, shopkeepers and …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Year of Mercy and its series of papal reflections may be over, but compassion and acts of mercy must continue and become a part of everyone’s daily lives, Pope Francis said. “Let us commit ourselves to praying for each …