VATICAN CITY –Each and every one of the world’s 408,000 priests should feel loved, respected, valued and supported in his vocation to bring the Gospel to an increasingly secular – but still open – world, said Cardinal Claudio Hummes.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Calling St. Augustine “one of the greatest converts in Christian history,” Pope Benedict XVI said the writings of the North African bishop have had a huge influence on his life as a priest and theologian.Read More

WASHINGTON – The long-held tradition of St. Patrick’s Day parades has experienced a bump in the road this year with the saint’s feast day occurring during an unusually early Holy Week.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Hours after the Vatican condemned an Italian ad campaign that depicted Pope Benedict XVI kissing a Muslim leader, the Italian fashion house Benetton withdrew the photo.Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI asked the Jesuits to continue to be pioneers in dialogue, theological research and work for justice, but insisted that they also must make clear their faith and their acceptance of the teachings of the Catholic Church.Read More

Like thousands of other American Catholics of his generation, Cardinal William H. Keeler knows why God made him. “To know, love and serve him," Cardinal Keeler told The Catholic Review, paraphrasing the often-repeated answer he memorized as a child from the famous Baltimore Catechism. The familiar passage from the catechism is just one of many...Read More

WASHINGTON – During nearly 50 years of rule, Fidel Castro had an often-stormy relationship with the Cuban Catholic Church. The Jesuit-educated Castro was equally comfortable defusing the Cuban church as an institutional force during the early years of his revolution in the 1960s as he was bantering casually with Pope John Paul II during the...Read More

ROME – More than 2,000 people protesting capital punishment marched through Rome to St. Peter’s Square on Easter morning. The Easter March, as it was called, was designed to put pressure on the Italian government to propose a moratorium on capital punishment at the U.N. General Assembly April 23. The April 8 march was organized...Read More