Catholic News Service

True prayer is a "fight" with God in which those who think they are strong are humbled and faced with the reality of their own mortal condition, Pope Francis said.

A former military commander accused of killing six Jesuits and two women working with the Society of Jesus during El Salvador's civil war went on trial June 8 in Spain, offering hopes of justice for crimes that have wallowed in impunity for more than three decades.

With so many people left unemployed or in a precarious position because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis launched a fund aimed specifically at helping people in Rome struggling economically in the wake of the crisis.

One of the seven Catholic peace activists convicted on charges related to entering a naval base in southeastern Georgia and symbolically damaging weapons systems will not return to prison for her role in the protest.

Pope Francis prayed for people living in countries where COVID-19 is still causing a huge number of deaths, and he cautioned people in Italy to continue to be careful and follow health precautions.

The Institute for the Works of Religion, often referred to as the Vatican bank, made a profit of 38 million euros (about $42.9 million) in 2019, more than twice the profit reported in the previous year, according to its annual report.

Bishop George Murry, the fifth bishop of the Youngstown Diocese, died June 5 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York, after a two-year battle with leukemia. He was 71.

Pope Francis used his June 3 audience and a phone call with the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to express his solidarity and support following days of demonstrations protesting the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Christians and Muslims hope a project to reconstruct Mosul's iconic places of worship, badly damaged by Islamic State militants during their 2014-2017 occupation of the city, will also help to rebuild trust between Iraq's fractured religious communities.

In the story of the patriarch Abraham — honored by Jews, Christians and Muslims — faith becomes a direct relationship with God that is marked by constant prayer, which sometimes takes the form of "debating" with God, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis' message in his 2015 encyclical on the relationship of people to the environment is simple, agreed a panel of speakers during an online dialogue.

The Diocese of St. Cloud and survivors of clergy sexual abuse have reached an agreement on a framework for a resolution of all clergy sexual abuse claims against the diocese and area parishes.

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis "was senseless and brutal, a sin that cries out to heaven for justice," and protests taking place nationwide "reflect the justified frustration and anger" of millions of Americans who today suffer because of racism, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A divided Supreme Court May 29 chose not to intervene in an emergency appeal by a church in Southern California to lift COVID-19 restrictions that limit congregation sizes.

To prevent fraud and corruption, uphold Catholic principles and save money, Pope Francis has issued a new set of laws covering contracts for the purchase of goods, property and services for both the Roman Curia and Vatican City State offices.

Windows of the Cathedral of the Assumption and its offices facing South Fifth Street in downtown Louisville were covered with plywood as a precaution May 30 after a second day of peaceful protests turned to violence and vandalism overnight.

With a religious sister who survived COVID-19 and a woman who lost her mother to the coronavirus, Pope Francis led the recitation of rosary and asked Mary to intercede to save the world from the pandemic.

As pain, fear and anger fueled riots across the United States, Pope Francis wrote to the priests of the Diocese of Rome, urging them to learn from the suffering of the coronavirus and start building new communities of care for one another.

Just as the apostles were united once they received the Holy Spirit, the church is united by that same spirit and not by keeping company just with those who agree on a certain interpretation of Christian teaching, Pope Francis said on Pentecost.