VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called for abolition of the death penalty as well as life imprisonment, and denounced what he called a "penal populism" that promises to solve society's problems by punishing crime instead of pursuing social justice. "It is impossible to imagine that states today...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- About the time in June that the Environmental Protection Agency introduced a plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, Martha Huckabay and her neighbors in St. Rose, Louisiana, began to smell a foul odor from a chemical storage facility near their home. Huckabay did not...
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Q. In a book I read recently explaining the teaching of the church in simple language, it states that a person cannot lie even to save a life since you "cannot do evil that good may come of it." This would seem to contradict the right to defend people even if others were trying to kill them: e.g.,...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- All wars begin in the human heart -- a heart that is jealous and bitter and tears apart communities through misunderstandings and marginalization, Pope Francis said. "How wonderful if we would remember more often who we are, what Jesus Christ did with us: We are his body," mem...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Beatifying Blessed Paul VI at the concluding Mass of the Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis praised the late pope as the "great helmsman" of the Second Vatican Council and founder of the synod, as well as a "humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his chu...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Francis' call to Christians to examine and reconsider the way they treat others brings challenges for Catholic publications in combatting polarization within the church, said a panel of editors and publishers Oct. 16. In a forum at Georgetown University, the struggles of "S...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church of Christ is called to keep the light of hope alive in the world, showing all humanity the path leading to "the merciful face of God" and salvation in Christ, Pope Francis said. Focusing his general audience talk Oct. 15 on the ultimate destiny of the church and all...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In official reports of the closed-door talks at the Synod of Bishops on the family, an emerging theme has been the call for a new kind of language more appropriate for pastoral care today. "Language appeared many, many times," Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, the briefer for Eng...
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WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When the Supreme Court declined to review the appeals on rulings striking down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional, many people were left second-guessing why this happened and what it means for the future of same-sex marriages and bans on such marriages. The high court's...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Unable to resist telling the world about a personal event that is dear to his heart, Pope Francis said that 70 years ago to the day, he celebrated his first Communion. "They say that you shouldn't talk about personal things, but I can't resist the temptation," he said at his w...
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