British parliamentarians on Sept. 11 soundly rejected a right-to-die bill that would have allowed people with less than six months to live to end their lives legally. Only 118 members of Parliament voted in favor of the bill; 330 voted against it. The bill had faced strong opposition from vario

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

The four major themes of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States—social and economic justice, environmental stewardship, immigration and the value of the traditional family—will resonate with many U.S. Catholics, but not all. That’s according to a new survey by Pew

The Michigan Catholic Conference sent letters to more than 10,000 employees in late August warning them about possible identity theft after a cyber attack on an employee database. • Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, joined the members of the #BringBackOurGirls movement on Au

Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami cited the importance of work in supporting families in the U.S. bishops’ 2015 Labor Day statement, which drew on Pope Francis’ June encyclical on ecology, “Laudato Si’.” Archbishop Wenski said ,“We must not resign ourselves to

Pope Francis’ announcement on Sept. 1 that priests worldwide will be able to absolve women for the sin of abortion will have little effect on pastoral practices in the United States and Canada. “It is my understanding that the faculty [authorization] for the priest to lift the latae sent

When Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago received the pallium, a symbol of his unity with the pope and brother bishops, at a special Mass on Aug. 23, he asked the entire church to join him in seeking out lost sheep. • The Diocese of St. Augustine will join the city of St. Augustine, Fla., in

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit on Aug. 21 said that while the Little Sisters of the Poor and fellow plaintiffs appeal its July ruling against them, they need not comply with the mandate to provide contraceptive coverage or follow procedures to hand off that responsibility to others.

As Puerto Rico’s government marches on toward a critical financial deadline regarding its $72 billion “unpayable” debt, there are hopes for a jubilee of the kind espoused in Scripture.Church leaders, like Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan, have offered diverse opinion

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina buried one of the world’s most iconic cities in a flood of biblical proportions. More than 1,800 people lost their lives. “It was like a war zone. No sign of life,” said the now-retired archbishop of New Orleans, Alfred C. Hughes. Across the regi