On a 7-4 vote, the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee agreed to send a bill legalizing same-sex marriage to the Senate floor. The full chamber is expected to debate the measure the week of Feb. 21, with the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) projecting a final vote to take place Feb. 28.Read More

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has announced that the request by officials of St. Thomas More Academy, a private school in the Frederick area, for recognition as a Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, has been denied based on the school’s refusal to implement the “Catechesis for Human Sexuality,” a family life program that focuses...Read More

PHILADELPHIA – A 28-year-old man who says he was abused by clergy on two separate occasions has filed a civil lawsuit against the two alleged abusers, the Catholic schools he attended, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the city’s past and present cardinal archbishops and others he said failed to prevent the abuse.Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. – Torture is a violation of fundamental human rights and has proven to be ineffective in obtaining worthwhile intelligence from foreign detainees, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace said.Read More

ROME – Surrounded by cement mixers, bricklayers and slabs of marble flooring, Cardinal George Pell of Sydney surveyed progress on an unusually ambitious construction project in Rome.Read More

While Catholics around the country will take respect life issues into the voting booth Nov. 4, many young people unable to cast are nonetheless looking for ways to change the United States.Read More

DUBLIN – An Irish bishop has called on parishioners to “reform and renew” the Catholic Church toward a future that is more transparent and in which leaders are accountable.Read More

Early in Matthew McClain’s life, medical professionals told his parents he would need to be placed in an institution because of severe difficulties related to his Down syndrome.Read More