Backgrounder and analysis   VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Members of the Synod of Bishops on the family agree that Catholic families are the beating heart and busy hands of the church, but the tensions in the synod hall demonstrate that what they don't agree on is a vision of the church and its prima...
Read full story »

Q. I'm curious about the fact that to mark the Year of Mercy Pope Francis will allow all priests to absolve from the sin of abortion. Why isn't that true already? If I had committed such a sin, then went to confession and found that the priest couldn't forgive me that would turn me off from the Cat...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bring honor back to keeping one's promises, which must be made in full freedom and kept by making sacrifices, Pope Francis said. The beauty of love and promises is that they are carried out in freedom, he said during his weekly general audience Oct. 21 in St. Peter's Square. "...
Read full story »

Q. What is the church's position on the practice of administering morphine to a terminally ill patient until he or she dies? (Indianapolis) A. Morphine, which is a strong opiate, is commonly administered to dying patients to help ease their pain, and this is not only permitted by the church but enc...
Read full story »

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Synod of Bishops on the family is not being manipulated; rather, the distortion rests in how it is being depicted or seen by a number of people, said Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C.            ...
Read full story »

  VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis called on people to replace their thirst for power with the joy of quiet and humble service, as he proclaimed four new saints – including the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux.             Al...
Read full story »

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for scandals that have occurred within the church recently. "Before beginning my catechesis, I would like -- in the name of the church -- to ask your forgiveness for the scandals which have occu...
Read full story »

ww WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In the past 20 years under harsh federal sentencing guidelines meant to combat the war on drugs, gripes about the military-industrial complex gave way to concerns about a prison-industrial complex. Congressionally mandated sentencing guidelines gave judges zero leeway, as man...
Read full story »

Q. I am having a hard time understanding why a Catholic church closed by a bishop can no longer be used for Masses, weddings and funerals. For more than 100 years, this particular church -- built by my great-great-grandparents -- was considered sacred ground. Now my grandson wants to get married in...
Read full story »

          VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Two couples attending the Synod of Bishops on the family said what surprised them most about their first synod in Rome was reading inaccurate media coverage of the closed-door proceedings, the diversity of problems families face around t...
Read full story »