Catholic News Service

The Mexican bishops' conference has criticized the practice of U.S. officials separating migrant families, joining a chorus of condemnation south of the border as Mexicans react with outrage to the sight and sounds of children being confined in shelters far from their parents.

The Ten Commandments given by God are meant to protect his children from self-destruction; they are not harsh rules meant to enslave and oppress, Pope Francis said.

The U.S. bishops "cannot, in good faith, endorse" an immigration bill submitted by the House's Republican leadership, said Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Migration.

For older residents of Leon's Sutiaba neighborhood, the country's recent protests bring back vivid memories of the insurrection of 1979 that toppled the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza.

The country's Catholic bishops have joined a chorus of organizations, institutions and high-profile individuals urging the Trump administration to stop separating children from their parents.

Nearly 500 British priests have signed a statement in support of the papal encyclical that forbade married couples from using contraception.

No motive "can justify these ongoing, seemingly relentless acts of gun violence plaguing our cities," Bishop David O'Connell of Trenton said after a mass shooting took place in the early morning hours of June 17 during a city arts festival.

All dictatorships begin the same way: media outlets are put in the hands of "unscrupulous" people who spread lies and weaken democracy, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis denounced using prenatal tests to determine birth defects that often lead to abortions, comparing it to the Nazi-era eugenics program that determined what lives were worth keeping.

The brother of Chilean Fr. Fernando Karadima called on his brother to ask forgiveness for the hurt inflicted on those he sexually abused.

Philippine authorities announced June 15 that they had arrested their "prime suspect" in the killing of Fr. Richmond Villaflor Nilo.

"There is a rage against women," but exploiting women or treating them like objects in a sin against God, Pope Francis said in his homily June 15.

With the help of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a 15th-century copy of a letter Christopher Columbus sent to his royal patrons describing the riches of the New World has been returned to its rightful owner -- the Vatican.

A planned pastoral letter addressing racism is on schedule for a November vote by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Argentina's bishops expressed disappointment with the approval of an initiative that moves toward legal abortion while pledging to review their social ministries to better attend to youth and women.

The Saudi-led coalition's assault on Hodeida, Yemen's main port city, will have a "catastrophic impact" on the ability of relief groups to get food, medicine and other aid to vulnerable Yemeni families in urgent need of assistance, a Catholic aid agency warned.

A new document focused on guiding the American church in addressing the pastoral needs of Asian and Pacific Island Catholics was approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during their annual spring assembly.

The process for considering key moral questions are more thoroughly examined in revised guidelines governing Catholic and non-Catholic health care partnerships adopted by the U.S. bishops.

Migrants seeking a better life in other countries must not be viewed with suspicion but rather defended and protected, no matter their status, Pope Francis said.

How is it that God in heaven can hear the cries of the poor, but so many people watching or standing nearby either cannot or just do not care, Pope Francis asked.