LONDON – A British study raising the possibility of a prenatal test for autism has prompted concerns among Catholics that pregnant women will be pressured to abort babies who might develop autism.Read More

St. Barlaam was born in Antioch sometime after 200. During the persecutions under Diocletian, this Christian peasant was jailed for his faith. At his trial in 304, he was tortured but refused to deny his faith. Barlaam lost his hand in fire when the judge tried to make it look like he was making a...Read More

WASHINGTON – An apostolic visitation team concluded that U.S. Catholic seminaries and houses of priestly formation are generally healthy, but recommended a stronger focus on moral theology, increased oversight of seminarians and greater involvement of diocesan bishops in the formation process.Read More

St. Tarsilla, a Roman citizen, was the daughter of St. Sylvia, the sister of St. Emiliana and the aunt of St. Gregory the Great. She didn’t join an order, but she took private vows to live a religious life. She had a vision of St. Felix III, and, after her death, she appeared to Emiliana...Read More

WASHINGTON – More than a week before he was to take office, President-elect Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, prompting advice and recommendations about how the two leaders’ governments should be handling immigration, among other matters.Read More

WASHINGTON - The harsh critique by the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine of a Fordham University theologian’s popular book was not meant to question the “dedication, honor, creativity or service” of the theologian’s work, said a letter to faculty members at the university.Read More

LONDON – Egyptian police must act more quickly against Muslim rioters, a Catholic bishop said after 12 people were killed and two churches burned in a night of violence.Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Most Holy Redeemer Church in San Francisco and the administrative offices of the Archdiocese of San Francisco were vandalized in early January with graffiti critical of the church’s support of Proposition 8, the California voter initiative that overturned last May’s state Supreme Court ruling declaring that all couples have the right to...Read More