By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Indifference, criminal networks and powerful economic interests still pose a challenge to those fighting against human trafficking, Pope Francis said. While much has been done in recognizing the seriousness and extent of this “true crime against humanity,” he said, “much more needs to …

Q: Are parish priests evaluated? If so, by whom, how often, and in what areas? Catholics rightly hold their priests to a high standard. When I was a seminarian, I remember reading a survey of what parishioners wanted of their priests. The report determined that among the qualities of the …

Hundreds gathered on Fountain Square for the annual Fatima Rosary Crusade. Below are scenes from rally:  

IMAGE: CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the search for profits outweighs all other considerations in society, money becomes a god who terrorizes humanity — excluding the majority of people and causing those still well off to build walls to cower behind, Pope …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By WASHINGTON (CNS) — In 1963, the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued an instruction permitting cremation as long as it was not done as a sign of denial of the basic Christian belief in the resurrection of the dead. The permission …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Carol Glatz By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Women religious are often the first people to discover problems emerging in society because they work directly with so many people in need, an anti-trafficking advocate said. However, because religious focus more on providing assistance than publicizing their efforts, …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Lionsgate By Joseph McAleer NEW YORK (CNS) — Ever since the success of 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” viewers of faith have waited anxiously for a follow-up from the film’s director, Mel Gibson. Recently, Gibson revealed that he is indeed planning a sequel — centered on the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Christian Bruna, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Praying for cardinals and bishops who died in the past year, Pope Francis urged people to remember the priestly witness they gave. Some of the bishops, he said, had been “called to witness to the Gospel in a …

By Gail Deibler Finke A robust church won’t have its religious freedoms challenged, Archbishop William Lori said in a brief interview following a lecture at The Athenaeum of Ohio November 1. The Archbishop of Baltimore, who is also the head of the USCCB’s Committee on Religious Freedom and the Supreme …

IMAGE: CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — A pair of Catholic physicians argue that changes in the way health care is paid for and stronger relationships between doctors and their patients will do more to improve people’s health and uphold the sanctity of life than bureaucratic government-run …