U.S. & World News

Pope Francis has appointed more than 450 participants, including dozens of religious men and women and laypeople from around the world, to attend the first general assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in October.

With Maine set to broadly expand access to abortion, pro-life advocates in that state are taking "a moment to regroup," said an official from the Diocese of Portland.

The proposed "Care for Her Act" promises to provide what its title suggests: support for women, specifically pregnant and parenting women. National pro-life leaders also stress the importance of the bill, which the House has not yet taken up this term, and similar pieces of legislation, as the maternal mortality rate continues to rise in the U.S.

For Father Benny Chittilappilly, a Vocationist priest from southern India, gardening is about more than growing vegetables.

Pope Francis' visit to Mongolia Aug. 31-Sept. 4 will make him the first pope to visit this Asian nation, which is home to one cardinal and some 1,300 Catholics.

Catholic leaders throughout the country are calling for prayer and action after gun violence scarred the long July 4 holiday weekend in several states.

Any book that is considered sacred by its people must be respected out of respect for the human person who holds it sacred, Pope Francis said.

A priest on the road to sainthood, who has united millions of Catholic men across the world, is drawing faithful together in the town where he first served.