IMAGE: CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former nuncio to the United States who accused Pope Francis and church officials of failing to act on accusations of sexual abuse, urged a top Vatican official to release documents that would …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Ignatius Press By Denis Grasska SAN DIEGO (CNS) — “Worms out of undead eye sockets? Really, Eleanor?” That was the reaction that Eleanor Bourg Nicholson, director of religious education at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia, probably never expected to hear at the parish office. …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn By Norma Montenegro Flynn GRAPEVINE, Texas (CNS) — Quoting from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” Archbishop Christophe Pierre encouraged Hispanic Catholic leaders and bishops to continue working toward being an evangelizing church by seeking an encounter with Christ and taking initiative while …

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy LÕOsservatore Roman By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — When the levees broke in 2005 and Lakeview became Lake Pontchartrain, Katrina launched its mad-scientist experiment. What would three weeks of brackish and corrosive water, chemicals and mud do not only to St. Dominic Parish’s Aquinas Hall …

In the last few months, national news stories have outlined new allegations of abuse and misconduct involving bishops, priests, and even seminarians from various dioceses. It’s hard to read about. Very hard. It can test the faith of even the strongest of Catholics.      Yet, you’re still Catholic. Why?  …

By Walt Schaefer      Over its 150-year history, St. Aloysius Parish in Shandon has grown in size and moved from a small church in the Butler County hamlet to a large one on a hillside out of town.      But, parishioners agree, one thing has remained steadfast over …

Traditionally, the beginning of the order of deacons is traced back to the story in Acts of the Apostles, Acts 6: 1-6.      Whether this pertains to the history of the ordained order of deacons as they developed in the early centuries of the church is in dispute, but …

Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion role explained; more By Gail Finke The need to reprint a decades-old handbook for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs) gave the archdiocese’s Office of Divine Worship and Sacraments the chance to clarify a few issues that have arisen in the 30 years since its …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring By Cindy Wooden DUBLIN (CNS) — In a stadium of Catholic families from around the world, Pope Francis told the laypeople they are the vast majority of church members and that, without them, the church would be cold, a collection of statues. “God wants every family …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller By Dennis Sadowski WASHINGTON (CNS) — An independent lay-run board that would hold bishops accountable for their actions, a national day for Mass or prayers of reparation, and encouragement to parishioners to become more involved in their diocese are among steps suggested by prominent lay Catholics …