Speakers ask pope, synod to clear up ‘confusion’ on contraception
A married couple from Brazil told Pope Francis and the Synod of Bishops that the church should stop giving "contradictory advice" on birth control and help Catholics obey church teaching against contraception.
U.S. bishops emphasize traditional marriage after Supreme Court action
After the Supreme Court Oct. 6 declined to review rulings overturning five states' bans on same-sex marriage, several U.S. bishops criticized the court's inaction and reiterated that according to church teaching, traditional marriage is a union between one man and one woman.
Because of Ebola crisis, people ‘can’t even go to church,’ says priest
Father McDonald Nah is praying that the people of Liberia are just as resilient with the Ebola outbreak as they were following the country's civil war more than a decade ago.
Phoenix seminarian in Rome takes step closer to priesthood
Fernando Camou, a seminarian for the Diocese of Phoenix, counted himself among 43 seminarians from Rome’s Pontifical North American College who were ordained to the transitional diaconate inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 2.
Real-life experience can strengthen church teaching, bishops tell synod
When Catholics see couples who are patient, kind, never jealous or rude, they "behold the beauty and simplicity and strength of married love," but the church also must learn to help and to heal those whose dreams for lifelong love have been shattered.
Pope recalls another key anniversary in his life: his first Communion
Unable to resist telling the world about a personal event that is dear to his heart, Pope Francis said that 70 years ago to the day, he celebrated his first Communion.
On sexual and medical ethics, synod fathers speak of ‘graduality’
In their discussions of sexual and medical ethics, participants at the Synod of Bishops on the family are giving emphasis to the concept of "graduality," as a way of thinking about morality that allows for human imperfection without compromising ideals.
Debate emerges on St. John Paul II’s early writings on social ethics
Less than six months after St John Paul II was canonized, questions are being raised about a book of lectures he penned as a young priest in his Polish homeland.
Cardinal Wuerl: Who may receive Communion? [VIDEO]
Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl discusses the difference between doctrinal teachings on marriage and the application of those teachings in regard to the reception of Communion.
Pope opens synod with vigil, Mass [VIDEO]
The Synod on the family opened with a vigil and Mass in St. Peter's Square Oct. 4-5.
