IMAGE: CNS photo James Lawler Duggan, Reuters By SILVER SPRING, Md. (CNS) — More than 5,600 U.S. religious sisters have signed a letter asking for civil discourse in the presidential campaign. The letter was to be sent Aug. 8 to the candidates of the Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian parties …

Watching my father care for his father proved a chore for a pre-teen boy with his head full of kid thoughts and body full of kid energy. They did not speak much on those days when we went to pick up laundry and tidy up grandpa’s tiny apartment over Frenchie’s …

By WASHINGTON (CNS) — By officiating at a same-sex wedding, Vice President Joe Biden as a prominent Catholic politician has created confusion over church teaching on marriage and “the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics,” three U.S. bishops said Aug. 5. “Questions revolving around marriage and human sexuality are deeply felt …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Lise Alves By Lise Alves RIO DE JANEIRO (CNS) — High above the city, beneath the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio Cardinal Orani Tempesta blessed the Olympic torch, held by Brazil’s former Olympic volleyball player, Maria Isabel Barroso Salgado. “This is the moment for us to surpass …

IMAGE: CNS photo/www.thesatanictemple.com By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) — It’s 3 p.m. Do you know where your children are? Parents, schools and school districts are paying even closer attention to after-school activities ever since a group called the Satanic Temple announced in early August that it plans to introduce after-school …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican will anticipate the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata with a special postage stamp, which will be released Sept. 2, two days before Pope Francis officially declares her a saint. The Vatican Philatelic …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Michael Collopy By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The poor, the suffering and those who minister to them will be at the center of celebrations leading up to the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata at the Vatican. The main event — the canonization Mass — …

Father Jan K. Schmidt, formerly pastor of St. Margaret of York Parish in Twenty-Mile Stand (Loveland), joined the archdiocesan Central Offices on July 1 as director of the Department of Pastoral Services. The department includes the offices of African American Catholic Ministries, Campus Ministry, Evangelization, Family and Respect Life, Mission, …

IMAGE: CNS/Reuters By ASSISI, Italy (CNS) — Celebrating how God’s mercy has been experienced for 800 years in a tiny stone church in Assisi, Pope Francis said people need to experience God’s forgiveness and start learning how to forgive others. “Too many people are caught up in resentment and harbor …

IMAGE: CNS/Greg Tarczynski By Rhina Guidos WASHINGTON (CNS) — To help before tragedy occurs, a Washington-based priest and psychologist is conducting a free webinar at the end of August to prepare priests, religious and other church members to deal with the trauma that follows a natural disaster, an act of …