World & Vatican

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis assured Catholics in China that the universal church shared their hopes and supported them during hardship.

Secret report calls for more transparency, greater leadership role for women in the wake of controversies.

In a new book, Archbishop Georg Ganswein and aims to call Catholics to evangelization, and to joy.

Trump threatens response as one activist describes the move as "the end of Hong Kong."

The number of COVID-19 cases globally has surpassed 5 million with Latin America emerging as the new epicenter of the virus.

ROME -- The uncertainty and restrictive measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic caused an increase in prayers and religious fervor in Italy, a recent study said.

VATICAN CITY -- Twenty-five years ago, St. John Paul II's encyclical on ecumenism, "Ut Unum Sint," put the papal seal of approval on a shift in the Catholic Church's approach to the search for Christian unity.

Through their vantage point of living among vulnerable communities throughout the world, Maryknoll lay missioners like Stewart often have front-row seats to the environmental disasters that are evidence of a planet in ecological distress.

NAIROBI, Kenya -- A Catholic nun is working with young Kenyans to put Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si'" into action.

WASHINGTON -- As the global number of refugees is at an all-time high of more than 70 million, the world has become a less welcoming place for many of them, said Jesuit Father David Hollenbach during a May 19 launch of his book "Humanity in Crisis: How Ethics and Religion Shape Policy Responses to Refugees" via Zoom video.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican announced that it will commemorate the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment with a yearlong series of initiatives dedicated to the safeguarding and care for the Earth.

WARSAW, Poland -- The centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II coincided with a new film, "Hide and Seek," screened on YouTube May 16. It accused the Polish church of continuing to cover up sexual abuse by Catholic clergy.

WARSAW, Poland -- Poland's Catholic bishops urged citizens to learn from St. John Paul II in coming to terms with COVID-19, as the 100th anniversary of his birth was celebrated with Masses and other events across his homeland.