Kerry Alys Robinson and Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service, speak during the Voices of Faith gathering March 8 at the Vatican. The event, held on International Women's Day, had the theme "Stirring the Waters-Making the Impossible Possible." (CNS photo/Massimiliano Migliorato, Catholic Press Photo)

Faith, Vatican Dispatch

Women’s voices in the church rise up in Rome

by Gerard O’Connell March 9, 2017

The Vatican’s celebration of International Women’s Day focused on ways women can work for peace through nonviolence.

Deacon Mark Herrmann baptizes 4-month-old Victoria Marie Domke at St. Jude Church in Mastic Beach, N.Y., in 2013. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Faith, News

Pope Francis discusses ordination of married men in response to priest shortage

by Kevin Clarke March 8, 2017

Describing the vocation crisis as an “enormous problem,” Pope Francis suggested he sympathizes with Catholics who come to Mass only to discover that there is no priest available to celebrate the Eucharist.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England, talks with Pope Francis as the arrive for the concluding session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 18. At right is Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

Cardinal Nichols: Pope Francis’ ‘toughness’ will see the Catholic Church through reforms

by Michael J. O’Loughlin March 8, 2017

“Creating space for a variety of pastoral responses is not decentralization. It’s a response to the realities in which people live.”

Faith, Faith in Focus

Here’s what the Vatican is doing for International Women’s Day

by Nicole Perone March 8, 2017

“Voices of Faith” might be the most extraordinary event you’ve never heard of.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

Faith, Vatican Dispatch

Cardinal Wuerl: Pope Francis has reconnected the church with Vatican II

by Gerard O’Connell March 6, 2017

Reconnecting the church “with the energy of the Second Vatican Council,” may be the pope’s greatest achievement, Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington said in an exclusive interview as the fourth anniversary of the pope’s election approaches.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, arrives for a news conference at the Vatican in this June 14, 2016, file photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Faith, News

Alleged Vatican resistance to child protection a ‘cliche,’ Cardinal says

by Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service March 6, 2017

“I think this cliche must be put to an end: the idea that the pope, who wants the reform, is on one side and, on the other, a group of resisters who want to block it.”