Catholic News

IMAGE: CNS photo/Melissa Moon, Detroit Catholic

By Michael Stechschulte

DETROIT (CNS) -- There's no such thing as the perfect Catholic family.

Days of joy, celebration and happiness can be followed by challenges, heartbreak and, at times, chaos brought on by contemporary hectic lifestyles.

At their best, however, Father Stephen Pullis, director of evangelization, catechesis and schools for the Archdiocese of Detroit, knows that Catholic families are full of life, love, faith, companionship and hope.

Recognizing everyday reality, the archdiocese has introduced a series [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Pontifical Academy for Life has invited the leaders of Microsoft and IBM -- two of the world's leading developers of AI software -- to sign a charter calling for an ethical framework and guidelines for the field of artificial intelligence.

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, and John Kelly III, executive vice president of IBM, were invited to attend a Vatican-sponsored event Feb. 28 dedicated to "human-centric artificial intelligence" [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The most important members of the Catholic Church are not the ones who hold lofty titles and high positions but rather those who humbly serve others, Pope Francis said.

"Who is the most important person in the church? The pope, the bishops, the monsignors, the cardinals, the pastors of the most beautiful parishes, the presidents of the lay associations?" the pope asked in his homily during morning Mass [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Vatican Media

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The most important members of the Catholic Church are not the ones who hold lofty titles and high positions but rather those who humbly serve others, Pope Francis said.

"Who is the most important person in the church? The pope, the bishops, the monsignors, the cardinals, the pastors of the most beautiful parishes, the presidents of the lay associations?" the pope asked in his homily during morning Mass [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Becket Religious Liberty for All

By Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Supreme Court announced Feb. 24 that in its next term it will examine if the city of Philadelphia can exclude a Catholic social services agency from the city's foster care program because the agency will not accept same-sex couples as foster parents.

In 2018, Philadelphia stopped using the foster program of Catholic Social Services of the Philadelphia Archdiocese over the agency's policy of not [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Rosanna Aguilera, San Angelo Standard-Times via Reuters

By Donis Tracy

BOSTON (CNS) -- The extra day we get approximately once every four years is a way to adapt the calendar year to the astronomical year.

But did you know the present system of calculating the leap years was designed around fixing the date of Easter?

While the concept of the leap year has been around since ancient times, the current calendar year has its origins in the Catholic Church.

According to [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Flavio Lo Scalzo, Reuters

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With the biggest two days of celebration and costume parades left, the famous pre-Lenten "Carnevale" of Venice was canceled as were Ash Wednesday services and even funeral Masses throughout the diocese.

The Archdiocese of Milan also issued a notice Feb. 23 suspending all public celebrations of the Mass until further notice in compliance with Italian Ministry of Health precautions to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

Angelo [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The only acceptable form of extremism for a Christian is an "extremism of love," Pope Francis said, concelebrating Mass with bishops from throughout the Mediterranean basin.

"'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.' This is the Christian innovation. It is the Christian difference," the pope said Feb. 23 as he celebrated an outdoor Mass in central Bari, a city on the southern Italian coast.

The Mass, concelebrated [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic communities of every nation on the Mediterranean Sea must work together to promote peace, to aid migrants and refugees and to defend religious freedom, Pope Francis told bishops from 19 Mediterranean countries.

"Amid deep fault lines and economic, religious, confessional and political conflicts, we are called to offer our witness to unity and peace," the pope said Feb. 23 as he joined 60 bishops from Europe, the [...]

IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Jean Vanier Association

By Philippe Vaillancourt

MONTREAL (CNS) -- Jean Vanier, founder of the ecumenical L'Arche communities that provide group homes and spiritual support for people with intellectual disabilities, used his status to have "manipulative" sexual relationships with at least six women, concludes an internal investigation commissioned by the organization.

The investigation reports "sincere and consistent testimony covering the period 1970-2005" from six adults, none of whom had disabilities.

These women report Vanier initiated sexual relations with them, the [...]