After several days of animated debate over its official midterm report, the Synod of Bishops on the Family agreed on a final document more clearly grounded in traditional Catholic teaching. The assembly failed to reach consensus on the especially controversial questions of Communion for those who ar

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph said on Oct. 14 that it hoped that a $9.95 million settlement of abuse claims “can bring about some closure to those hurt by abuse in the past.”• Alaska’s Gov. Sean Parnell said in a statement released on Oct. 12 that his administration wi

Ever since Frank Mulbah’s mother died of Ebola in Monrovia, Liberia, in August, no one will go near him. “I went to my relatives after my mother died, but they chased me away, even after I told them that I didn’t have Ebola,” said Frank, 12, who tested negative for Ebola at t

A five-year court odyssey for a Pakistani Christian mother of five will continue after an appeals court in Lahore, Pakistan, on Oct. 16 upheld a death sentence for “blasphemy.” Asia Bibi, 45, has been imprisoned since 2009 while appealing her conviction. Accused by co-workers after a dis

Providing food aid to people in need is not enough to eradicate world hunger, Pope Francis said in a message marking the celebration of World Food Day on Oct. 16. An overhaul of the entire framework of aid policies and food production is needed so that countries can be in charge of their own agricul

Captors released a Franciscan priest who was among about 20 Christians kidnapped from a Syrian village near the border with Turkey. Father Hanna Jallouf was being held under house arrest in a religious residence in Knayeh, a small Christian village in northwestern Syria, according to a statement on

In a blunt assessment of the Iraqi government’s response to the suffering of Christians from the northern Nineveh province, a leading Chaldean Catholic bishop said, “Our people have been abandoned.”The Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, blasted both the Iraqi government an

On sexual and medical ethics, participants at the Synod of Bishops on the Family are giving emphasis to the concept of “graduality,” a way of thinking about morality that allows for human imperfection without compromising ideals. On the Synod’s first working day, Oct. 6, Cardinal P

The disappearance of 43 students has sparked soul-searching among many Mexicans.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Oct. 10 to Kailash Satyarthi of India and Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan, heroic advocates for children’s rights, especially the right to education. • In the Maiduguri Diocese in northeastern Nigeria, nearly 200 churches have been destroyed or razed by B