By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Seeing the elderly only as a burden “is ugly. It’s a sin,” Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience. “We must reawaken our collective sense of gratitude, appreciation and hospitality, helping the elderly know they are a living part of …

By Catholic News Service CHICAGO (CNS) — Cardinal Francis E. George, retired archbishop of Chicago, was admitted to Loyola University Medical Center March 1 to undergo several days of tests. A March 3 news release from the Chicago Archdiocese said the tests were being conducted to evaluate his condition since …

By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — Auxiliary Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Francisco has been named to head the Diocese of San Diego by Pope Francis. The appointment was announced in Washington March 3 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop McElroy, 61, …

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the Bible says, “though your sins be like scarlet” God will make them “white as snow,” it exaggerates, just like God exaggerates in his willingness to forgive people, Pope Francis said. “The Lord forgives generously,” the pope said March …

  By John Franko Catholic News Service PITTSBURGH — Donald Nohs, who is an expert on the Shroud of Turin, widely believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus, talked to a Pittsburgh audience about the evidence of authenticity for the shroud. Jesus’ passion, Nohs noted, was much more than …

By Doug Weller Catholic News Service SALINA, Kan. — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York says one of the virtues of rural life is the number of priests who come from country parishes. The Diocese of Salina would seem to confirm that. Of its 53 active and retired diocesan …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY  — Drop the innocent look and the habit of judging others, Pope Francis said; recognizing one’s own faults and failings is the first requirement of being a good Christian. In fact, paradoxically, one finds peace and relief in judging one’s own sins, …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Catholics are encouraged to make going to confession a significant part of their lives during Lent, Pope Francis offered some quick tips to help people prepare for the sacrament of penance. After a brief explanation of why people should …

By Catholic News Service NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, who led the University of Notre Dame through a period of dramatic growth during his 35 years as president and held sway with political and civil rights leaders, died Feb. 26 at the age of 97. …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A homeless man who faithfully attended Mass at a church inside Vatican City for decades was buried in a Vatican cemetery after it was discovered he had died and was left unidentified in a hospital morgue. Willy Herteleer was well-known …