Region's autonomy remains the most sensitive of issues for China's government

"We have told the story of the missions in a way that has shown them as harmonious. In reality, conquest does not work that way," said Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Edward W. Clark. "We see weakness in our curriculum on the mission era. We want to strengthen that."

Unless something very unexpected happens in the next few hours, the California State Legislature will pass legislation that enables California citizens to end their own lives with the help of a physician.

The European Union must adopt a common asylum policy "without delay" because it is unacceptable for refugees to "drown and suffocate" at the fringes of the bloc, said the European bishops.

The Obama administration announced that it would seek to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees during the next fiscal year--a significant increase from the 1,293 admitted in fiscal 2015, but far short of the number other nations have pledged to accept.

What Pope Francis cannot be accused of is cruelty or of using God’s mercy as a weapon.

September 11, 2015Santa MartaPope Francis says that we must learn to not judge others or we all risk becoming hypocrites including the Pope himself. At the same time, he said, we need to have the courage to acknowledge our own faults in order to become merciful towards others. The Pope’s comme

By the end of his interview with Stephen Colbert, Biden’s combination of openness and empathy had the host practically begging the vice president to seek a promotion.

Serra showed genuine if imperfect care for Native people. How can we do the same?

Opening today in Solino is Celtic Park Haiti, described as “a top-notch soccer facility on the grounds of what was once a makeshift camp for people displaced by the Haiti earthquake.”

How does a 2000 year-old faith integrate with the demands of the modern world?

The boy I knew so long ago in grammar and high school had died a martyr, an American hero.

Asked what he might ask Pope Francis were he to be a guest on his new show, Colbert replied, "I would ask him about how love leads him to joy, or does love lead him to joy?"

The synod "needs to be looking at the ways poverty undermines families," said Maryann Cusimano Love, associate professor of international relations at The Catholic University of America. "Healthy families need women who can support them," yet women overwhelmingly make up some of the most poorly paid sectors of the U.S. economy, such as waiting tables, and serving as health aids.

"We are gathered in solidarity and witness" to support the region's Christians who face "tragedy" every day. "Much, much needs to be said about what continues to happen in the Middle East."

Pope Francis' reformed rules for marriage annulment cases, making the process simpler, quicker and less expensive, respond to calls that bishops from around the world have been making since before the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the family convoked by St. John Paul II.Catholic marriage tribunals do

Priests who struggle to be merciful should not be hearing confessions, the pope said.

To be a true Christian means being forgiving, kind, humble, gentle, generous, merciful and very patient with one another, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.Priests must be especially merciful, he added, saying if that they weren't, then they should ask their bishop for a desk job and "n

"We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives.”