By Angela Cave Catholic News Service JAMAICA, N.Y.  — The first Steubenville Youth Conference to be held in New York drew 1,800 teenagers from around the country Aug. 7-9 to St. John’s University in Jamaica in the New York borough of Queens. They came seeking to bolster their faith and …

By Lou Baldwin Catholic News Service PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — As lecterns go, it is strictly utilitarian, a simple walnut stand with none of the ornamentation commonly found in mid-19th-century furnishings. Yet it has a distinguished past and is about to have a distinguished future. At a news conference Aug. 7 …

By Mary Knight Catholic News Service JERUSALEM — Jerusalem is hot, especially in the gym of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Bilingual School for Jewish Arab Education. Jerusalem is tense, too, with jolting violence this summer over dismantled settlement homes, gay rights and a brutal attack on a Palestinian …

By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Last spring, a Cincinnati man who was convicted of imprisoning and transporting multiple women for the purpose of commercial sex in the Ohio-Kentucky region was sentenced to 180 months for operating a sex trafficking scheme. In addition, the U.S. Justice …

CNA/EWTN News Pope Francis has instituted a new day of prayer and celebration for the Church entitled the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation,” to be celebrated on September 1 each year. The day of prayer is in keeping with the theme of the Holy Father’s newest …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Catholics who have divorced and are civilly remarried “are not, in fact, excommunicated — they are not excommunicated — and they absolutely must not be treated as if they were,” Pope Francis said. Resuming his Wednesday general audiences Aug. 5 after a …

CNA/EWTN News A citizen journalism group investigating abortion clinics’ procurement of organs and tissue from unborn babies has pledged to contest a court order barring the release of recordings made of an abortionists’ conference. The Center for Medical Progress said that it follows “all applicable laws” and that it will …

By Maria Macina & John Mulderig Catholic News Service NEW YORK — Faith and comedy can make for an uncomfortable combination. Wits who engage in this volatile mix obviously need to avoid outright irreverence or the trivialization of the sacred. Yet they also have to be wary of artificial restraint since all …

By Andrea Gagliarducci Catholic News Agency Yes to contraception, homosexual acts, and Communion for the divorced and remarried – all considering the circumstances. No to understanding any acts as intrinsically evil. These are the positions advocated by speakers at the May 25 “shadow council” which gathered prelates and theologians, led …

Catholic News Agency As Christians continue to face unprecedented persecution – especially in the Middle East – the Knights of Columbus have announced a new campaign to send humanitarian aid and raise awareness about their plight. “Pope Francis has urged the international community to take action to help Christians in …