Latest Roman Catholicism News
Catholic school in Mississippi Delta closing after 70 years
GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — A Catholic elementary school that primarily serves Black and Hispanic families in the Mississippi Delta is closing after more than 70 years, following a sex abuse scandal, declining enrollment and a steep decrease in donations. St. Francis of Assisi School...
Pope's recipe to heal his painful knee? A shot of tequila
ROME (AP) — Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis' bad knee. He has other ideas. According to a viral video of the pope at the end of a recent audience, Francis quipped that what he really needs for the pain is a shot of tequila....
Vatican minister visits Ukraine as pope toes delicate line
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, is heading to Kyiv this week as the Holy See seeks to balance its concern for Ukrainians amid Russia's war with its efforts to keep open a channel of dialogue with Moscow. Gallagher is due to arrive...
Pope rallies from knee pain to proclaim 10 new saints
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis created 10 new saints on Sunday, rallying from knee pain that has forced him to use a wheelchair to preside over the first canonization ceremony at the Vatican in over two years. Francis stood for a long period at the start to greet priests concelebrating...
US report details church-state collusion on Native schools
A new Interior Department report on the legacy of boarding schools for Native Americans underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with churches to Christianize them as part of a project to sever them from their culture, their identities and ultimately their land. The...
Pope to visit Canada to apologize for Indigenous abuses
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who has been using a wheelchair because of a bad knee, is going ahead with plans to visit Canada this summer so he can apologize in person for abuse suffered by Indigenous people at the hands of the Catholic church. The Vatican on Friday announced...
Some Catholic abortion foes are uneasy about overturning Roe
NEW YORK (AP) — Top leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called on the faithful to pray and fast Friday, in hopes the Supreme Court is on track to overturn the constitutional right to abortion. Yet even among Catholics who oppose abortion, there is some unease about the consequences...
Arrested Hong Kong cardinal a fiery critic of Beijing
HONG KONG (AP) — Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 90-year-old Catholic cleric arrested by Hong Kong police on national security charges, has long been a fiery critic of Beijing's control of religion and political monopoly, along with efforts by the Vatican to reach a working arrangement with the ruling...
Catholic cardinal, others arrested on Hong Kong security law
HONG KONG (AP) — A 90-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal, a singer and at least two others have been arrested in Hong Kong on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security, in an action widely condemned as a further sign of Beijing's erosion of rights in the...
Retired AP photographer Ut gives pope 'Napalm Girl' photo
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Retired Associated Press photographer Nick Ut met Wednesday with Pope Francis and gave him a copy of his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a young Vietnamese girl running naked down the road after a napalm attack. Ut and Kim Phuc Phan Thi, whose terror the AP...
