By Lise Alves Catholic News Service SAO PAULO — Brazilian rancher Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura again has been found guilty of masterminding the 2005 assassination of U.S.-born Sister Dorothy Stang. A judge sentenced Moura to 30 years in prison after he was declared guilty just before midnight Sept. 19, the court …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — In his strongest public words to date on the subject of abortion, Pope Francis affirmed the sacredness of unborn human life and linked its defense to the pursuit of social justice.

Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — The Common Core State Standards — expectations for students to master in each grade level — have a love/hate/ambivalent relationship with the American public. The state-led initiative — adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia — has been embraced by many educators, viewed …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — When Pope Benedict XVI visited ground zero in 2008, he knelt alone and prayed inside the cement-walled crater where the World Trade Center once stood. As a sign of bringing light and hope to the dark memory of 9/11, the pope …

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY — On the evening of Sept. 7, days before U.S. lawmakers vote on President Barack Obama’s proposal for a military attack on Syria, Pope Francis will lead thousands in St. Peter’s Square in a prayer vigil for peace. “We will gather …

By Laura Dodson Catholic News Service  MELBOURNE, Fla. (CNS) — As students arrive on campuses around the country this fall to embark on their college career, many also will experience adult independence for the first time.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — To emphasis that the sacrament of baptism formally brings a person into the church of God and not just into a local Christian community, the Vatican has ordered a slight change of wording in the baptismal rite.

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) — It’s not exactly the Beatles vs. the Rolling Stones, but just as those two bands shook up the pop charts nearly a half-century ago, two convents’ CDs are vying for a spot atop the Billboard classical music charts.

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Respect for human life from conception until natural death is something children must be taught, not mainly with words, but by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said.

By Catholic News Service LEVITTOWN, Penn. — Considering how rapidly the world has changed in the past 100 years, the senior members of families and parish communities have a wealth of memories, which, if shared and preserved, can provide a fascinating and lasting legacy. The American Folklife Center of the …