MONTREAL - In a letter addressed to the Canadian bishops and the leaders of Development and Peace, prominent leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and civil organizations criticized a moratorium on at least four Philippine associations suspected of "violating the social teachings of the Church."

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis wanted to go to Morocco in December to draw attention to the need for international co-operation in assisting migrants and in alleviating the situations that force people to seek a better life outside their homeland.

SANTIAGO, Chile – The Vicariate for Social Pastoral Care of Caritas in the Archdiocese of Santiago takes in every year hundreds of women and their children, victims of domestic violence who find in their shelters comprehensive care to be able to get on with their lives.

Six years after the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), the people of Tacloban, Philippines, are starting a new life thanks to Development and Peace - Caritas Canada. 

Catholic representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean, defining work for the next four years, looked for ways to build on the foundations of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si'" so it is taken into account by all nations.

The $53 million Ottawa plans to spend on migrants, refugees and ordinary people suffering through economic breakdown in Venezuela could help cover an open wound of human suffering in neighbouring Brazilian towns that are hosting thousands of refugees.

ROME – After weeks of confusion and consternation, Rome's mayor told the Vatican newspaper that Rome Caritas would benefit not only from the coins tourists throw in the Trevi Fountain, but from coins tossed in any of the city's historic water features.

ROME – Most of the tourists who have tossed coins over their shoulder into Rome's Trevi Fountain over the past 20 years probably did not know that they were helping the city's poor.

VATICAN – Responding to the deaths of tens of thousands of children from AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses, the Vatican brought together physicians and representatives of drug companies and humanitarian agencies to strategize ways to improve care for children and adolescents who are HIV-positive.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – As Haitian authorities confirmed the toll from the Oct. 6 earthquake at 17 dead and 333 injured, Caritas and other grass-roots organizations working with the victims highlighted the critical humanitarian situation facing survivors, who now lack shelter.

MANILA, Philippines – The social action arm of the Philippine Catholic Church has convened its "surge team" as super Typhoon Mangkhut threatened the country in mid-September.

UNITED NATIONS – Faith-based organizations are uniquely able to care for migrants and refugees because they employ a holistic, person-centered approach that respects the human dignity of each individual, and they have established networks throughout the world, according to panelists at a May 3 United Nations event.

A new mandate from trustees of the Halton Catholic District School Board to allow its schools to give donations only to a specific list of charities that uphold Catholic values sets it apart from other nearby Catholic school boards.

CUERNAVACA, Mexico – Donations from Caritas chapters across Mexico started streaming into affected areas after an earthquake rocked central Mexico Sept. 19, claiming more than 300 lives, leveling homes and churches and leaving thousands homeless.

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh – Bangladesh is bracing for a massive humanitarian crisis because of a lack of food, sanitation, medicines and even basic housing following the exodus of as many as 350,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, fleeing violence in which at least 1,000 were killed in just two weeks.