Posts In Category

National & World News

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Human trafficking destroys the lives of millions of children, women and men each year, making it a real threat to peace, the Vatican said as it announced Pope Francis‘ 2015 World Peace Day message would focus on the phenomenon.

By Catholic News Service ROCHESTER, N.H. — In April 2013, the parents of slain U.S. journalist James Foley attended a prayer vigil at Marquette University in Milwaukee to pray for their son, who at that time had disappeared in Syria.

Pope Francis, still wearing a yellow pin commemorating the victims of last April’s ferry disaster, walks down the aisle to answer questions from journalists aboard the papal flight from Seoul, South Korea, to Rome Aug. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) See POPE-PLANE Aug. 18, 2014.
By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SEOUL, South Korea — Pope Francis said the use of force can be justified to stop “unjust aggressors” such as Islamic State militants in northeastern Iraq, but he declined to endorse U.S. military airstrikes against the militants and …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service SEOUL, South Korea — Starting his first visit to Asia, Pope Francis urged South Korean political and civic leaders to seek peace on their divided peninsula and strengthen their nation’s commitment to democracy and social justice. “Peace is not simply the absence of …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — The Vatican called on Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbarity” and “unspeakable criminal acts” of Islamic State militants in Iraq, saying a failure to do so would jeopardize the future of interreligious dialogue.

By Doreen Abi Raad Catholic News Service  BEIRUT — Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs denounced the “total international silence” on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and called for Muslim religious authorities to issue fatwas, or legal edicts, banning attacks against Christians and “other innocents.”

Displaced people are seen resting on the ground at an area in Duhok, Iraq, Aug. 7. Given the "grave situation in Iraq," Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, to travel to the region to meet church and government officials, but especially to meet Christians chased from their homes by militants of the Islamic State. (CNS photo/courtesy Christian Aid Program) See MIDEAST-PATRIARCHS, POPE-IRAQ and IRAQ-PRAYER Aug. 8, 2014.
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Given the “grave situation in Iraq,” Pope Francis has asked Cardinal Fernando Filoni to travel to the region to meet church and government officials, but especially to meet Christians chased from their homes by militants of the Islamic State.

By Elizabeth Wong Barnstead Catholic News Service  NORTHVILLE, Mich. — When St. John Paul II canonized 103 Korean martyrs in 1984 in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Alexius Hong was there to attend the canonization Mass. “This will be the second pope who visits Korea,” said Hong of Pope Francis’ plans …

By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has appointed Father Bohdan J. Danylo, a seminary rector in Connecticut, to head the Ukrainian Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio.

By Patrick Downes Catholic News Service  HONOLULU — The Vatican has designated Honolulu’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace as a minor basilica in recognition of its historic and spiritual significance.