Irish abuse victim Marie Collins, the lone clerical abuse survivor nominated by Pope Francis to sit on the new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, looks at Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley during their first briefing at the Holy See press office at the Vatican on May 3. (CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters)

Marie Collins challenges top Vatican cardinal and sexual abuse commission

by Nicole Winfield - Associated Press March 14, 2017

Collins expressed shock that Mueller considered the tribunal a mere proposal. She questioned if the Vatican already had adequate means to judge negligent bishops.

Pope Francis has named Irish Msgr. Paul Tighe a bishop and appointed him as adjunct secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture. Bishop-elect Tighe, who served as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, is pictured at the 2013 Catholic Media Conference in Denver in this June 20, 2013, file photo. (CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

News, Politics & Society

What is the Vatican is doing at SXSW?

by Matt Palmer - Catholic News Service March 14, 2017

“You’re certainly the only one in a collar and you’re possibly the only one with white hair,” Bishop Tighe said about the festival.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 31. (CNS photo/Chris Wattie, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

Trudeau’s new abortion policy a ‘reprehensible example’ of imperialism, bishop says

by Catholic News Service March 13, 2017

Cardinal Thomas Collins called Trudeau’s policy “arrogant for powerful, wealthy nations to dictate what priorities developing countries should embrace.”

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News, Politics & Society

How the U.S. bishops are speaking out and standing up for immigrants

by Rhina Guidos - Catholic News Service March 13, 2017

Catholic Church leaders in the U.S. spent the week of March 6-10 trying to allay fears and urging compassion.

News, Politics & Society

Protestant leader may step aside for unity deal in Northern Ireland

by Shawn Pogatchnik - Associated Press March 13, 2017

The senior Protestant politician in Northern Ireland left the door open Sunday for stepping aside as part of a potential deal to revive the British territory’s unity government with Catholics.

Aerial shot of the Valley of the Gods in Bears Ears National Monument. (Photo courtesy of Creative Commons/Bureau of Land Management)

News, Politics & Society

Will President Trump rescind this national monument’s status from Native Americans?

by Lauren Markoe - Religion News Service March 10, 2017

A tribal coalition, which considers many sites within Bears Ears sacred, fears the Trump administration will take the unprecedented step of stripping a national monument of its designation, and leave their ancestral lands vulnerable.