Catholic News Service

If young people recognize all that they have received with gratitude and older people take the initiative of relaunching hope in young people for their future, then nothing can stop the flourishing of God's blessings among people, Pope Francis said.

The chairman of a U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committee welcomed a White House action that will restore regulatory provisions that were in place for decades as part of a key environmental protection law.

Catholic leaders were thankful that death-row inmate Melissa Lucio was granted a last-minute stay of execution April 25.

Having "the smell of sheep" for one military chaplain serving in Ukraine has now meant being surrounded by the smell of burned homes and lives.

There is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" nation because wickedness can be found everywhere, Pope Francis said.

Those who are called to be missionaries of mercy are entrusted with the important task of being the face and the voice of God's love to those in need, Pope Francis said.

In a cavernous warehouse on the edge of Lublin, Piotr Piskorski sees too much empty space, especially near the pallets of baby formula, canned soups and vegetables and individual servings of instant noodles.

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairman of its Committee on Migration have voiced their support for the Biden administration's initiative to welcome Ukrainian refugees to the US.

In an Easter message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, Pope Francis prayed that the Holy Spirit would "transform our hearts and make us true peacemakers, especially for war-torn Ukraine."

The mercy shown by God to his children can transform hearts and makes Christians become channels of that mercy to those in need, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis renewed his call for an Easter truce in Ukraine, as many in the country commemorate Christ's resurrection under the shadow of war.

On April 21, Texas executed a 78-year-old inmate, Carl Buntion, by lethal injection shortly after the governor of Tennessee temporarily blocked the execution of a 72-year-old prisoner, Oscar Smith, citing issues with preparations of the lethal drugs to be used.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki said the life and work of Project Rachel founder Vicki Thorn, who died unexpectedly April 20, stand "as a living testimony to an unwavering and unconditional defense of life at all stages, and to the mercy of God's love."

Peru's Catholic bishops published a two-page plea to the country's leaders, urging them to address the current political crisis with "greater responsibility" and take "radical measures" to fight corruption.

The planned second meeting between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has been canceled out of concern it could cause "confusion," and there will be no papal visit to Kyiv while war rages, Francis said in an interview with the Argentine daily newspaper La Nación April 21.

A Vatican delegation traveled to Vietnam, hoping to accelerate a process for enhancing diplomatic ties between the Holy See and Vietnam.

Mexican Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, a longtime president of the former Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, died in Rome April 20 at the age of 89.

The local ABC-TV affiliate in Quincy, where Father Augustus Tolton grew up and is buried, reported April 14 that Vatican representatives were in the United States to investigate possible miracles related to the priest's sainthood cause.

Pope Francis and the Vatican are urging world leaders to listen to the people's cry for peace, and they have backed an appeal by the head of the United Nations for an Easter truce in Ukraine.

The fourth commandment does not only imply honoring one's father and mother, but also the respect and care for the dignity of older generations, Pope Francis said.