U.S. & World News

Highlighting the church's approach of coupling the power of prayer with active and committed care for the earth, the Vatican wrapped up the monthlong Season of Creation Oct. 4 with the launch of new initiatives.

Working with small farmers in the Horn of Africa, Yohannes Subagadis with Catholic Relief Services keeps hearing how difficult it is for growers to raise even minimal crops for their families to live on let alone to have extra to take to market.

As Kenya lifted a ban on the open cultivation of genetically modified crops, some Catholic bishops expressed reservations about the technology, citing ethical concerns about the farming and consumption of the foods.

The Gospel's message of hope to the suffering and downtrodden is sorely needed in today's world, which is "enslaved by selfishness and full of contradictions and divisions," Pope Francis said.

Doctors in Belgium violated a woman's right to life when they improperly handled her request for euthanasia, the European Court of Human rights ruled.

The current farm bill doesn't expire until 2023, yet already advocates are lining up their arguments to assemble the kind of farm bill they want to see next year.

Pope Francis personally expressed his thanks to the four dozen people who read through hundreds of reports about the listening phase of the Synod of Bishops and, after 12 days of prayer, reflection and discussion, drafted a working document for the continental stage of the synod process.