California prelates urge prayers, humanitarian aid for victims of fires

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — By midday Nov. 16 firefighters had gained more ground in trying to contain the Camp Fire in Northern California, which is north of Sacramento and one of the deadliest blazes in the state.
Bishops overwhelmingly approve pastoral against racism

BALTIMORE — The U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a pastoral letter against racism Nov. 14 during their fall general meeting at Baltimore.
WATCH: Bishops say they face angry questions over mishandling of abuse reports

BALTIMORE — U.S. bishops admitted during a wide-ranging discussion during their fall general assembly that parishioners are angry and continually ask how a charismatic clergyman was able to rise through church ranks despite widespread knowledge of allegations that he sexually abused seminarians and boys.
Protesters gather outside bishops' meeting in Baltimore, call for change

BALTIMORE — As the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opened a Day of Prayer at the Fall Bishops General Assembly Nov. 12, John McKeon was the first to walk a path along Aliceanna Street outside the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront, just after 9 a.m.
Vatican asks USCCB to delay vote on sex abuse response proposals

BALTIMORE — At the urging of the Vatican, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will not vote on two proposals they were to discuss regarding their response to the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Is China's targeting of Catholics pushback from low-level party officials?

BANGKOK — Although China and the Vatican signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops in September, persecution of Chinese Catholics continues.
Pope recognizes martyrdom of U.S. Christian Brother

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of De La Salle Christian Brother James Miller, who was born in Wisconsin and was shot to death in Guatemala in 1982.
Archbishop Gomez: 'Pray hard' for all affected by California shooting

LOS ANGELES — After a shooting spree late Nov. 7 at a country-music bar in Thousand Oaks, about 40 miles from the heart of Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles asked people to "pray hard" for the victims and their families.
Holy Land Catholic leaders ask Israel to repeal controversial law

JERUSALEM — The controversial Israeli Nation State law must be repealed because non-Jews also are citizens of Israel, said the Catholic ordinaries of the Holy Land.
Caravan heads to Mexico City; Guadalupe basilica opens for migrants

The caravan of migrants making its way through Mexico has started arriving in Mexico City, where the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the world's most-visited Marian shrine, has opened its shelter for pilgrims to weary Central American migrants.
Keep faith to keep Poland independent, Catholic bishops say at centenary

WARSAW, Poland — Poland's bishops marked their country's centenary of independence by warning freedom could be lost again if Poles abandon their Catholic faith.
New York bishop removed from public ministry pending review of abuse claim

WASHINGTON — A New York auxiliary bishop has been removed from public ministry pending a Vatican review of a decades-old accusation of sexual abuse against him, a claim he denies, the Archdiocese of New York said in a letter released Oct. 31.
Pakistan court sets aside death sentence for woman convicted of blasphemy

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan's Supreme Court has set aside the death sentence of Asia Bibi, a Catholic convicted of blasphemy, and ordered her release from prison.
Trappist Father Keating, leading figure in centering prayer, dies at 95

SPENCER, Mass. — A funeral Mass will be celebrated Nov. 3 at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer for Trappist Father Thomas Keating, a leading figure in the centering prayer movement that got its start in the 1970s. He died Oct. 25 at the abbey.
USCCB president condemns shooting at synagogue, all 'acts of hate'

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Catholic bishops stand with "our brothers and sisters of the Jewish community," the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Oct. 27 after a horrific shooting earlier that day in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue, described as a hub of Jewish life in that city.
Bishops sign document calling for action against climate change

VATICAN CITY — Six bishops representing episcopal conferences on five continents issued a joint statement calling on the international community to take immediate action against climate change.
Mexican parishes pitch in to help Central American caravan heading north

HUIXTLA, Mexico — Members of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in this southern Mexican city rose early Oct. 24 to feed but a fraction of the Central American migrants traveling in a caravan, which is trying to traverse Mexico and reach the United States border.
Judge orders arrest of longtime suspect in St. Romero's 1980 killing

WASHINGTON — Days after the Catholic Church declared Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero a saint, a judge in El Salvador issued a capture order for a former military captain suspected of killing the religious leader in 1980 as he celebrated Mass.
Catholic group says neutral stand on assisted suicide 'startling'

PHILADELPHIA — The president of the Catholic Medical Association said Oct. 18 that the American Academy of Family Physicians' new "engaged neutrality" position on physician-assisted suicide is "diametrically opposed" to the medical community's long-standing opposition to it.
Synod groups on sexuality: Church welcomes all, calls all to conversion

VATICAN CITY — No one is excluded from the love of God or from being welcomed into the Catholic Church, but God's love and the church's welcome also come with a call to conversion, said the English-language groups at the Synod of Bishops.
'Ugly cancer of racism' infects U.S., bishops say in proposed pastoral

WASHINGTON — "Despite many promising strides made in our country, the ugly cancer of racism still infects our nation," the U.S. bishops say in a proposed pastoral letter on racism.
Smith dinner's tone lighthearted, but abuse crisis not ignored in remarks

NEW YORK — In the current toxic environment where political rivals describe each other as "evil" and "enemies," it is imperative to remember that in America, "our political opponents are not evil, they are just our opponents," according to Ambassador Nikki R. Haley.
Scalabrini shelter in Guatemala swamped by Hondurans seeking safety

MEXICO CITY — A Scalabrini migrant shelter in Guatemala City has served 1,700 Hondurans heading north as part of a caravan seeking to reach the U.S. border.
'Every parish, rectory in hurricane zone' suffering, says church official

MIAMI — The physical impact of Hurricane Michael and the anticipated recovery period for parts of the Florida Panhandle appear to be on a scale of last year's Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to the church's top emergency management specialist in Florida.
Chinese provincial official: Vatican will interfere in religious affairs

HONG KONG — The Vatican is still planning to interfere in affairs of the Catholic Church in China, a provincial religious affairs official told local Catholic representatives at a government seminar.
Washington state's Supreme Court strikes down death penalty

SEATTLE — The Catholic bishops of Washington state Oct. 11 applauded the unanimous decision of the state Supreme Court striking down the death penalty as unconstitutional.
El Salvador celebrates its first saint, whose legacy continues

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Near the end of his homily at a Mass just prior to St. Oscar Romero's canonization, Jesuit Father Jose Maria Tojeira yelled to the crowd outside the Metropolitan Cathedral: "Viva Monsenor Romero!" (Long live Bishop Romero!) The overflow crowed lustily yelled back, "Que Viva!" (Long live!)
Diocese moving from prayer to action in wake of Hurricane Michael

PENSACOLA, Fla. — In the wake of Hurricane Michael, which left 13 known dead and more than 1 million without power two days after it ravaged the Florida panhandle, the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, whose territory was smack in the path of the Category 4 storm, is moving from prayer to action.
Pope accepts Cardinal Wuerl's resignation as Washington archbishop

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl as archbishop of Washington but did not name a successor. When the pope's decision was announced Oct. 12, the Archdiocese of Washington released a letter from Pope Francis to the cardinal, making clear his support for Cardinal Wuerl's ministry and leadership, but also praising the cardinal for putting the good of the church first.
Kavanaugh says he feels no 'bitterness' over confirmation process

WASHINGTON — New Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Oct. 8 he has no "bitterness" over a contentious confirmation process that ultimately ended with a Senate vote Oct. 6 to confirm him for the seat on the high court left vacant by the July 31 retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Cardinal Ouellet responds to Archbishop Vigano on McCarrick case

VATICAN CITY— Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington had been told by Vatican officials to withdraw from public life because of rumors about his sexual misconduct, said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. However, because they were only rumors and not proof, then-Pope Benedict XVI never imposed formal sanctions on the retired Washington prelate, which means Pope Francis never lifted them, Cardinal Ouellet wrote Oct. 7 in an open letter to Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican nuncio to the United States.
Call for senators' 'miserable death' seen as more than 'free speech' issue

WASHINGTON — A Georgetown University associate professor's tweets that white Republican men should die a "miserable death" for supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court is more than just about free speech, said the head of Students for Life of America.