Associated Press

Francis referred to the disaster during his weekly general audience Wednesday and invoked Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is revered by many Latino Catholics.

Just days before the start of a U.S. administration that’s promised a swift immigration crackdown, hundreds of Guatemalan faithful in Minnesota turned with hope and pride to the statue of the crucified Jesus, an elaborately carved replica of the most venerated image in their tropical homeland. 

The French Catholic Church has formally requested that prosecutors initiate an investigation into Abbé Pierre, a once-revered priest and humanitarian icon who died in 2007, following new revelations of sexual violence.

Some 1.8 million mostly barefoot Catholic worshippers marched Thursday in an annual procession in the Philippines that venerates a centuries-old black statue of Jesus. Some said they prayed for good health for their families, an end to tensions in the South China Sea, and for incoming U.S. President Donald Trump to be kinder to Filipino immigrants.

Pope Francis on Christmas Eve formally inaugurated the 2025 Holy Year, reviving an ancient church tradition encouraging the faithful to make pilgrimages to Rome. What that means and what it will look like is addressed in this AP explainer.

At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events.

The BBC reported that Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell let a priest remain in his post despite knowing he had been barred by the church from being alone with children and had paid compensation to one of his accusers.

An ancient relic that many Christians revere as Jesus Christ’s “Crown of Thorns” is returning to Notre Dame, five years after it was saved from the flames of the cathedral’s devastating 2019 fire.

Francis has long been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. He recently called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constituted genocide.

The day after the inferno struck Notre Dame on April 15, 2019, Philippe Villeneuve walked despondently into the remains of his cathedral. Smoke choked the spring air, the spire lay in rubble, and charred beams littered the nave. “We had lost the framework, the roof, the spire, and three sections of the vault,” Villeneuve, its chief architect since 2013, said.

A disgraced 93-year-old New Orleans priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving the sexual assault of a teenage boy in 1975.

Few people in America have done more to advance conservative causes than Leonard Leo. For his neighbors on a sparsely populated island off the coast of Maine, the conservative's presence — despite significant charitable giving to local nonprofits and big spending locally — has generated fissures in a place known for tranquility. 

The reopening of Notre Dame this coming weekend is going to be a high-security affair, with a repeat of some measures used during the Paris Olympics and the sealing-off to tourists of the cathedral's island location in the heart of the French capital.

Border Patrol agents are tasked with enforcing hotly contested immigration policies as many Americans at both ends of the political spectrum look askance at the border — and the agents. That's taking a mounting toll, so the agency is training more among its ranks to become chaplains and provide spiritual care for their fellow agents on and off the job.

Roman Catholic faithful will be able to view St. Peter’s tomb remotely as part of the Vatican’s technological outreach with its far-flung flock during the upcoming Holy Year.

Pope Francis, who has imposed a series of cost-cutting measures across the cash-strapped Vatican, warned Nov. 21 that the city state's troubled pension fund needs urgent reform to guarantee future obligations. 

Duane Gray, 62, came forward publicly Tuesday to tell his story in the hopes it would allow some healing for himself and other victims of clergy sexual abuse. Last month, he said he reached a six-figure settlement with the Archdiocese of Hartford over his claims about the Rev. Daniel McSheffery, who died in 2014.

Francis made the announcement at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday, saying he would proclaim the church's youngest contemporary saint during the Jubilee of Adolescents at the Vatican on April 25-27.

The U.S. norms, adopted at the height of the abuse scandal there, say a priest will be permanently removed from church ministry based on even a single act of sexual abuse that is either admitted to or established under church law.