Texas diocese responds to immigrants’ need in surge of children

More than 52,000 minors traveling alone and 39,000 families have been picked up this fiscal year by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. They've been dropped off at bus stations at odd hours. As the numbers escalated, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley opened two assistance centers to respond to immediate needs.

Sudanese Catholic woman convicted of apostasy is released from prison

Meriam Ibrahim, 26, a Catholic woman convicted of apostasy for marrying a Christian, was released from prison June 23, her lawyer said.

Pope on Corpus Christi: Jesus in the Eucharist gives life, love

The body and blood of Christ, Pope Francis said, can give people eternal life because "the substance of this bread is love." Living the Catholic faith, the pope said, means "allowing yourself to be nourished by the Lord and building your life not on material goods, but on the reality that does not perish: the gifts of God, his word and his body."

Catholic-Shiite dialogue brings agreement on weapons of mass destruction

A joint declaration by two U.S. Catholic bishops and two Shiite Islam religious leaders from Iran decries the use, and the threat of use, of weapons of mass destruction.

Pope’s words give inmates hope, say advocates for fair sentencing

The pope responded to hundreds of letters from inmates incarcerated for life as juveniles, assuring them of his prayers and that the Lord "knows and loves each one of them." A larger movement of people is working to reform the way in which juveniles are held accountable for crimes committed as youth.

Faith compels archbishop to go to march, tell ‘whole truth’ of marriage

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco said June 16 that his Catholic faith requires him to "proclaim ... the whole truth" in support of traditional marriage.

Church rediscovers its role as mother by welcoming, loving, pope says

"If the church is not a mother — I know it is bad to say this, but she becomes an 'old maid,'" and cannot bring forth children," Pope Francis said. The church, he said, must have "a heart without limits, but not just a heart: also a certain gaze, the sweetness of Jesus' gaze, which often is more eloquent than many words."

World must help unaccompanied minors fleeing violence, official says

There's been a huge increase in the number of children traveling alone to flee war or violence calls for urgent action by the international community, a Vatican official said. "A new form of protection" is needed.

Boy Scouts of America honor Fr. O’Rourke with award

Fr. Dennis O’Rourke, VF, pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Cave Creek, received the Brother Barnabas Founders Award honoring his long and meritorious service to the Catholic scouting movement in the United States.

Kino Teens bring youthful zeal to immigration reform efforts

In a soup kitchen just across the U.S. border, Nicole Davison sat down at a table lined with men.The guests all had been recently deported from the United States.