In recent months Catholic intellectuals in Italy have been engaged in an important conversation about the political responsibilities of Italian Catholics. The conversation took on a certain urgency last summer following a heated debate about whether Catholic organizations, communities and families o

At least 50 priests or religious leaders were involved in the abuse and diocesan leaders systematically concealed the abuse to protect the church's image, according to a grand jury report released on March 1.

Francis: Just as God derives no pleasure from "the blood of bulls and lambs" slaughtered in his name, he is especially averse to offerings from hands dirty with the blood of another human being.

The 90 minutes of oral arguments March 2 was before a court left with eight members following the Feb. 13 death of Justice Antonin Scalia, who regularly voted to uphold abortion limitations and was expected to have provided the fifth vote in this case to uphold the requirements.

“Certainly for faithful lay people in general, but above all for women, this would constitute a fundamental change in their participation in church life.”

Cardinal Pell testified about an "extraordinary world of crimes and cover-ups," where many wanted to keep the status quo.

“I had a chance to retell a story that people thought they already knew.”

I no longer recognize my own country.

Two things make the medieval theologian a much deeper juridical thinker than the judge.

The fall of Simon Newman and the rise of the business model of education

“When God forgives, his forgiveness is so great that it is as though God forgets."

The Tea Party and Black Lives Matter give big donors a run for their money

Why must genre films like “Star Wars,” “The Matrix” or “Blade Runner” always be discounted?

As a young priest in the early 1970s, Pell lived in a presbytery with Australia's most notorious pedophile priest.

Noting the generosity of countries like Greece, Pope Francis called on European Union member states to "focus decisively and unreservedly on negotiations" to assist nations receiving refugees.

In a chaotic scene, Syrian and Iraqi refugees forced their way through part of a Macedonian border fence, some clutching infants or struggling to free duffel bags caught in the razor-wire fence. They were met by Macedonian riot police.

The execution triggered protests in several cities denouncing the hanging after some religious and political leaders, as well as militant groups, publicly defended the killer.

The paper said it was also a "positive sign" when Michael Sugar, the movie's producer, said he hoped the film would "resonate all the way to the Vatican."

Final results released show that reformists, who favor expanded social freedoms and engagement with the West, and other backers of President Hassan Rouhani, won at least 85 seats.

For the first time in Irish electoral history, the combined popular vote Friday for Ireland's two political heavyweights—the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael parties—fell below 50 percent as voters infuriated by austerity measures shifted their support to a Babel of anti-government voices.