VATICAN – The Catholic Church must help not only its own young people but also non-Catholics to become active members in society and true disciples in a chaotic world, a Venezuelan observer told the Synod of Bishops.

VATICAN – Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador asked Pope Francis to proclaim St. Oscar Romero the church's first Latin American "doctor of the church."

It’s a nine-hour flight from Toronto to Vatican City. It’s seven hours by jet to El Salvador. But Msgr. Oscar Romero’s canonization on Oct. 14 will not be a distant event for many Catholics. 

LIMA, Peru – The Peruvian National Police arrested a suspect in connection with the death of Jesuit Father Carlos Riudavets.

WASHINGTON – The Catholic bishops of Latin America pledged their loyalty to Pope Francis and spoke against the "shameful" way he has been attacked, said the president of the Latin American bishops' council during an Aug. 26 Mass in Medellin, Colombia.

MEXICO CITY – The Argentine Senate voted against a bill that would have decriminalized abortion during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Representatives of the Brazilian bishops' conference argued in front of the country's Supreme Court against the decriminalization of abortion.

SUTIABA, Nicaragua – Father Victor Morales was awakened at 5 a.m. by the young men on the barricade outside his church. "They're coming, father. They're here," they told him.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Dozens of women clad in outfits reminiscent of “The Handmaid’s Tale” took to the streets of Buenos Aires Wednesday to protest for legalized abortion, the AP reported.

Talking about theology and mining in the same breath is not uncommon in Latin America.

JINOTEGA, Nicaragua – Two churches in the Diocese of Jinotega in northern Nicaragua have been desecrated in the past week, amid rising tensions between the Church and the government of president Daniel Ortega.

VATICAN – After an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of 57-year-old Auxiliary Bishop Juan Jose Pineda Fasquelle.

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru – On a Sunday night in early July, four men – two of them indigenous – were brutally murdered in Assis, a tiny Brazilian town on the border with Peru.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – As attacks on Catholic clergy continue and anti-government protesters are besieged by Nicaraguan police and paramilitaries, the bishops said they would pray an exorcism prayer.

LIMA, Peru – Peru's bishops expressed support for an overhaul of the country's judicial system after phone-tap recordings revealing influence peddling and corruption became public.