VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal for an end to the “tragic violence” escalating in the Gaza Strip. After praying the noonday “Regina Coeli” with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square May 20, the pope called on both Palestinian and Israeli leaders to renew efforts for dialogue and to curb the...Read More

WASHINGTON – Citing “ongoing communication and attempts to rectify the situation,” Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted extended from Dec. 17 to Dec. 21 a deadline he had set for a local Catholic hospital to comply with three demands related to the church’s ethical directives for health care.Read More

The Save Middle East Action Committee and East Baltimore Development Initiative may have clashed over plans to revitalize a troubled East Baltimore neighborhood, but both organizations agree that Baltimore’s St. Wenceslaus has been instrumental in helping them compromise. St. Wenceslaus, which is focusing on commemorating signs of hope in the community, honored the two groups...Read More

The holiday season is here. From peppermint lattes and potato latkes, carols to dreidels, there are reminders at every twist and turn.Read More

APARECIDA, Brazil – With their agenda broadly outlined by Pope Benedict XVI, the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean began the conference that will lead to pastoral guidelines for the region for the next 10-15 years. Several bishops who spoke with journalists said the pope raised many of the issues likely to be addressed...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Changing the world for the better does not come from leaders making grandiose promises or calling for a violent revolution, Pope Benedict XVI said: It comes from the humble individuals who silently carry God’s light and love to everyone around them.Read More

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Benedict XVI addressed a stadium full of enthusiastic Brazilian young people, telling them that a life lived without moral responsibility is a life wasted. At a rally May 10 in Sao Paulo, the pope warned against sexual infidelity, drug use and unethical shortcuts to success and said the desire to...Read More

They had been married for many years. The husband was now dying, and the wife was wondering what to do with the rest of her life. Working with a spiritual director, she discerned that God might be calling her to life as a religious. Her spiritual director suggested that she might want to tell her...Read More