San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller in a recent homily railed on smugglers as well as the injustices toward immigrants, referring to the June 27 deaths of 53 people in a sweltering cargo section of an abandoned semitruck near San Antonio as they were being smuggled into the country.

“God forgive me, I hope he’s in heaven,” Benedictine Father Kenneth Reichert said about the man who entered Conception Abbey 20 years ago, pointed a semi-automatic MAK-90 rifle at him and fired twice.

The agenda for the Second Assembly of Australia’s Plenary Council was disrupted July 6 after more than 60 of the 277 members staged a protest over issues regarding women in the church, including the defeat of a motion to formalize support for the ordination of women as deacons.

The Chinese Communist Party is seeking to expand its apparatus to monitor and curb religious activities in cyberspace through training and deploying hundreds of “auditors” across the country, triggering concerns from rights groups.

Pope Francis said he plans to name two women to the committee that helps him choose bishops for the world’s Latin-rite dioceses.

Police officers successfully drove dozens of anarchist rioters away from Holy Redeemer Church in Portland late July 1.

Gun violence in Philadelphia highlights the deep-seated trauma and developmental issues experienced by many of the city’s youth, said an Archdiocese of Philadelphia mental health professional.

Saying he watched “in horror” news reports in the aftermath of a mass shooting during a suburban Fourth of July parade, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago offered prayers for the victims.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Reuters news agency, Pope Francis condemned abortion, dismissed the idea that he’s preparing to resign and said he still hopes to be able to visit Russia and Ukraine in the fall.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite disappointment that Pope Francis was not in Congo July 3, some 2,000 people — most of them Congolese — joined the pope for Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, singing, swaying and ululating. “Let us pray for peace and reconciliation in your homeland, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so wounded […]