Catholic News

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring

By Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- One of the founders of liberation theology in Latin America said he supports an effort to declare St. Oscar Romero a doctor of the Catholic Church.

During a March 18 livestream of an event celebrating the Salvadoran saint canonized in October, Dominican Father Gustavo Gutierrez, considered by many as the father of liberation theology, said he thought the idea of naming St. Romero a doctor of the church was an [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Josh Estey, Care International via Reuters

By Bronwen Dachs

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Two boys at a Catholic boarding school in Zimbabwe are among the more than 300 people killed in the aftermath of a cyclone that slammed into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in mid-March. Officials fear the death toll from the cyclone could reach 1,000.

A landslide sent rocks crashing into a dormitory at St. Charles Lwanga Seminary Secondary School in Mutare Diocese, trapping about 50 [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians have faith in a God who wants to and is able to transform the world, conquering evil with good, Pope Francis said.

That is why "it makes sense to obey and abandon oneself" to God and his will, even during life's most difficult moments, the pope said March 20 during his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Continuing a series of talks about the Lord's Prayer, the pope focused [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Eli Burakian, Dartmouth College

By

WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (CNS) -- A Dartmouth College cosmologist and theoretical physicist, who considers himself a religious agnostic even though he has devoted his career to examining link between science, philosophy and spirituality in exploring the mystery of creation, is the 2019 Templeton Prize winner.

Marcelo Gleiser, 60, often describes science as an "engagement with the mysterious" because he believes it cannot be separated from humanity's relationship with the natural world.

A native of [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Muhammad Hamed, Reuters

By Dale Gavlak

RAMTHA, Jordan (CNS) -- As Syria's civil war enters its ninth year, citizens in and outside the country find themselves in limbo. Catholic and other aid agencies are urging a swift resolution to the crisis.

Caritas Syria is campaigning for "an immediate end to the violence and suffering" and calling for "all sides of the conflict to come together to find a peaceful solution," chiefly through reconciliation work.

"We are initiating reconciliation among the [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu Children's Hospital in Rome is a sign of the Catholic Church's commitment to caring for and protecting the dignity of the sick, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

Commemorating the hospital's 150th anniversary March 19, Cardinal Parolin said that the identity of Bambino Gesu Hospital is rooted in Jesus' call to care for the ever-evolving needs of the sick in a [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Natalie Hoefer, The Cr

By Natalie Hoefer

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) -- Two women stood near the busy road on a chilly February morning in Indianapolis. A steady, penetrating mist -- and sometimes an icy splash from a speeding car -- made for a dampness that digs deep and lingers despite layers of clothes. The temperature hovered just above freezing.

"It's always 10 degrees colder here than anywhere else," Sheryl Dye said with a patient grin. Her companion, Ann Clawson, nodded [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy NZ Catholic

By Michael Otto

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CNS) -- The St. Addai Chaldean Catholic community in suburban Auckland felt the impact of the Christchurch mosque killings with a special poignancy, because many members have experienced the sufferings inflicted by terrorism.

"There is a lady in my community -- they beheaded her son in front of her," Chaldean Father Douglas Al-Bazi told NZ Catholic. "Another man, they killed his parents in front of him."

Father Al-Bazi, who was kidnapped [...]

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on Christians to unite in prayer for the victims of two mosque attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, that left 50 people dead and dozens wounded in one of the worst mass shootings in the country's history.

"I am close to our Muslim brothers and sisters and their entire community. I renew my invitation to unite with them in prayer and gestures of peace to counter hatred and violence," the pope [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the process to implement a peace accord in South Sudan continues, Pope Francis met March 16 with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and expressed the hope that, finally, he would be able to visit the country.

During the meeting in the papal library, the Vatican said, the pope and president discussed "matters regarding the implementation of the agreement recently reached by various political actors with a view to [...]