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Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Yonan (centre), celebrating the Divine liturgy in 2015.

Changing canon law, Pope brings Latin and Eastern practices closer

VATICAN CITY – In a change to church law, Latin-rite Catholic deacons may not preside at a wedding when one or both of the new spouses are members of an Eastern Catholic church.

A new Vatican ruling said that performing or helping procure an abortion or attempting suicide is an obstacle to ordination as a Catholic priest.

Vatican: Abortion, attempted suicide always obstacles to ordination

VATICAN CITY – The sacredness of human life is so absolute that performing or helping procure an abortion or attempting suicide is an obstacle to ordination as a Catholic priest, even if the man was not Catholic at the time the events occurred, said a new Vatican ruling.

We are always our brother’s keeper

We are always our brother’s keeper

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Sept. 25 (Amos 6:1a, 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31)

The absence of love is indifference, and it is indifference that will bring our world low if we are not more heedful of divine law. 

Krysten Winter-Green, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, speaks during an interview in Rome Sept. 12. She said holding leaders accountable for negligence is "critical to the whole picture" of child protection.

Sharing the expertise: Papal advisors on abuse expand reach, influence

VATICAN CITY – Though it has no juridical power, Pope Francis' committee on protecting children has discovered it has consultative punch.

There are ups and downs in life and they should not dictate how we look at a person's entire life, writes Fr. Ron Rolheiser.

Ups, downs and happy death

In the Roman Catholic culture within which I grew up, we were taught to pray for a happy death. For many Catholics at the time, this was a standard petition within their daily prayer: “I pray for a happy death.”

Recent study by a Georgetown University researcher finds that organized religion in the United States is estimated to be worth $1.2 trillion annually to the country's economy.

Study puts dollar value of organized religion in the U.S. at $1.2 trillion

WASHINGTON – Religion is big bucks — worth $1.2 trillion annually to the American economy, according to the first comprehensive study to tabulate such a figure.

Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, seen here in 2015, said the global economy needs to shift from its profit-driven model.

Economic focus must shift from profit to people, cardinal says

VATICAN CITY – The current economic model that places profit over the common good of all human beings must change in order to confront the challenges the world is facing today, a Vatican official said.

Pope Francis arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 7. The Pope thanks a group of Argentine bishops for providing concrete guidelines regarding divorced and remarried couples.

Pope praises bishops' guidelines on helping divorced, remarried couples

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis thanked a group of bishops in Argentina for providing their priests with concrete guidelines for implementing the section of his apostolic exhortation on the family about circumstances in which divorced and civilly remarried couples might eventually be allowed to receive Communion.

Pope Francis greets Giuseppe Chiolo, 16, in St. Peter's Square during a Year of Mercy general audience at the Vatican Sept. 10. The pope administered the sacrament of confirmation to the young man, who is being treated in the oncology ward of a Florence hospital.

Pope gives confirmation sacrament to gravely ill teen

VATICAN CITY – In a brief outdoor ceremony, Pope Francis administered the sacrament of confirmation to 16-year-old Giuseppe Chiolo, who had come to the Vatican by ambulance from Florence.

Clerical abuse survivors have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the church about best practices.

Papal commission steps up work to educate church about abuse

VATICAN CITY – Members of the Pope's commission for child protection, including an abuse survivor, have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the church about best practices.

Abbot Gregory Polan, the new leader of the confederation of Benedictine monasteries, is pictured at St. Anselm Abbey in Rome Sept. 13. Abbots and priors from Benedictine men's communities around the world elected Abbot Polan of Conception Abbey in Missouri to be abbot primate.

Benedictine abbots elect head of Conception Abbey abbot primate

ROME – A room with a view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from a monastery atop the Aventine Hill is very nice, but Abbot Gregory Polan knows he will miss his brother monks at Conception Abbey in Missouri very, very much.

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