SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Diocese of Belleville’s Catholic Charities agency has joined three other Illinois Catholic Charities agencies in a lawsuit against the state seeking to continue operating their foster care and adoption programs since the passage of a law legalizing civil unions for same-sex couples.Read More

As a Protestant, I’m not qualified to address the tensions between Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien’s office and the Legion of Christ (CR, Feb. 26). As an ethicist, however, I can say without reservation that the article was at best an irresponsible and, at worst, an intentionally harmful injustice to the reputation of Woodmont Academy, Cooksville....Read More

SYDNEY – Three Catholic entities in Australia apologized “with a deep sense of regret and heartfelt sorrow” over forced adoption practices involving thousands of single mothers that occurred in past decades.Read More

VATICAN CITY – The global economic crisis has contributed to the delay in the publication of Pope Benedict XVI’s new social encyclical, not for financial reasons, but because the crisis has demonstrated how important and how complicated the topic is.Read More

MADRID – For Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela of Madrid, there’s no déjà vu in hosting his second international World Youth Day.Read More

Cumberland police were still talking to students and faculty members of Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland this week after a bomb threat was written on a bathroom wall.Read More

WADOWICE, Poland – As pealing bells signaled the start of Mass in this small Polish village, the Sunday morning congregation overflowed at the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.Read More

WASHINGTON – It’s not always easy to bring family members together for a tasty, nutritious and affordable meal. When Lent comes around, the need for meatless Fridays and the hope of teaching children about why Catholics fast and abstain from meat can make meal planning seem nearly impossible.Read More