Church offers prayers, Mexicans express outrage for missing students
Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico City offered prayers during Mass Nov. 9 for Mexico's 43 missing teacher trainees, who authorities allege were captured by crooked cops, killed by organized crime and had their bodies burned.
Pope’s ecumenism said to come from friendships, bridge-building
Four of the daily homilies of Pope Francis over the 19 months of his pontificate in particular help explain the direction he has taken in ecumenism and interreligious efforts, said a priest who has served as a Vatican spokesman during events including the recent extraordinary Synod of Bishops.
Pope hails role of St. John Paul in Berlin Wall’s fall
Commemorating the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Pope Francis said the sudden end to the division of Europe was prepared by the prayers and sacrifice of many people, including St. John Paul II.
Religious leaders call for calm at holy site in Jerusalem
Attachments to holy places should not be a cause of bloodshed, hatred or violence, said the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land.
Farmers learn welding to boost incomes a year after devastating typhoon
On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the most powerful tropical cyclone to slam the central Philippines, signs of hope are emerging among some of the people who lost their only means of earning a living.
Church protests beating deaths of Christian couple accused of blasphemy
Catholic leaders in Pakistan protested the Nov. 4 beatings and burning of a young Christian couple accused of desecrating the Quran.
Pope: Bishops must be servants, not vain careerists after power, honor
The world's bishops are called to be servants and shepherds who use their position to care for people and the faith, not to seek power and boost their pride, Pope Francis said.
Some parishioners greet New York’s plan for mergers with tears, anger
First there was dead silence and then there were tears. That's the reaction of parishioners at St. Ursula in Mount Vernon to the announcement that their parish would merge with another and cease to celebrate weekly Masses.
Woman’s suicide called tragedy, symbol of ‘culture of death’ in U.S.
Brittany Maynard, a young California woman who was suffering from terminal brain cancer and gained national attention for her plan to use Oregon's assisted suicide law, ended her life Nov. 1. She was 29 years old.
Cardinal says mergers tough to take, but address shifts in population
In a long-awaited but nonetheless stunning announcement, the Archdiocese of New York said Nov. 2 it would merge 112 of its 368 parishes into 55, effectively shuttering at least 31 churches by Aug. 1, 2015.
