VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- On exam day, geology students might be handed a mystery rock to study, scratch and peer at, looking for clues to identify it and hypothesize about its origins and composition. On exam day at the Vatican Secret Archives, student-scholars get handed an obscure medieval manuscrip...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the Supreme Court June 26 ruled that marriage licenses cannot be denied to same-sex couples nationwide, it may have settled one legal issue, but it left many more unanswered questions, particularly in the realm of religious objections. Within hours of the 5-4 ruling, worrie...
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Q. "The sins of the fathers are visited on the children." Is that saying an adage, a Catholic teaching or God's own words? Thirteen years ago, two relatives of mine received an equal and large bequest. An oral directive from the deceased had provided that each beneficiary should donate one-fifth of...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis will make history during his visit to Washington in September, when he becomes the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress and he says the first canonization Mass to be celebrated in the United States. Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl outlined details o...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Harsh criticisms meted out by Pope Francis on free-market capitalism have sparked backlash from some fiscal conservatives and have led some people to call him "anti-capitalist" or even Marxist. Ahead of his apostolic visit to the United States in September, some are bracing th...
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VATICAN CITY (VIS) — On June 23, the Vatican published the working document for the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme, “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and contemporary world.” The synod will occur at the Vatican Oct. 4-25. Th...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis and the Vatican have stepped up action concerning the protection of minors from abuse by clergy and the accountability of bishops to stop perpetrators. The pope approved new procedures in June allowing the Vatican to investigate questions of accountability and he...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Lisa Sharon Harper, director of organizing for the Sojourners community in Washington, defined "America's original sin" as "racial hierarchy" at a June 15 conference on solidarity and faith issues in the nation's capital. Two days later, that sin reappeared in a shocking and con...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The deep hurts that spouses inflict on each other cause great suffering to their children and, in some cases, lead to a separation that is "morally necessary" to protect spouses and children from more serious forms of violence, Pope Francis said during his general audience in...
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Q. My son, who is 19, has suffered from anxiety and depression since puberty, although it's only recently that we have recognized it for what it is. He began using marijuana in his early teens, dropped out of school, struggled to hold a job and was very unstable. His girlfriend recently gave birth...
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