IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis asked Catholic dioceses around the world to set up a permanent memorial of the Year of Mercy by establishing a hospital, home for the aged or school in an under-served area. Celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday with an evening …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Immediately after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell March 23 challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement, the second-guessing began about how the court will rule. The 108-page transcript of the arguments was gleaned for …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — Immediately after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Zubik v. Burwell March 23 challenging the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement, the second-guessing began about how the court will rule. The 108-page transcript of the arguments was gleaned for …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jeffrey Bruno, EWTN By HANCEVILLE, Ala. (CNS) — With Mother Angelica having been essentially bedridden for 15 years following a series of strokes in 2001, staff at the Eternal Word Television Network and members of her order, the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, had plenty of time to …

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien BALTIMORE (CNS) — As Canada prepares for the legalization of assisted suicide throughout the country in June and nearly half of the U.S. states take up some kind of legislative proposal on the topic this year, questions arise about its pastoral implications. What should a hospital …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rolex Dela Pena, EPA By Simone Orendain MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A Philippine archbishop is urging Catholics to heed the Ten Commandments before they head to the polls in May to vote for offices ranging from president to local village councilors. Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, who is …

IMAGE: CNS By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a simple tap, Pope Francis joined Instagram and quickly set a record for gaining 1 million followers. The launch of the “Franciscus” account March 19, the feast of St. Joseph and the third anniversary of the formal inauguration of his …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (CNS) — Daniel Courtney could feel the tightening grip that drugs and alcohol had on him in the years after he served in the war in Iraq. The former altar server from Rockaway Beach, New York, and Navy war veteran …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Stringer, Reuters By John Mulderig WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians contend that Christians in Libya, Iraq and Syria are victims of genocide carried out by the Islamic State in a new report. The 278-page document was released March 10 in Washington, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Vatican judicial authorities are investigating the former president and former treasurer of its Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital in a case involving the financing of remodeling work on the Vatican apartment where Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone lives. Giuseppe Profiti, former …