Staff members with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami were on location and developing a response strategy June 24 near the stunning wreckage of a partially collapsed beachfront high-rise apartment building.

A disgraced Polish archbishop has been elected mayor of his hometown after being sanctioned by the Vatican for ignoring sexual abuse by his clergy, as two more bishops were disciplined for similar offenses.

The head of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy said he hopes efforts at financial transparency and reform will foster Catholics' trust ahead of the annual Peter's Pence collection.

Despite strong criticism from European bishops and pro-life groups, members of the European Parliament adopted a report that defines access to abortion as a human right and claims that doctors or hospitals that conscientiously object to performing abortions put "women's lives in danger."

After receiving the gift of a chalice from leaders of the Lutheran World Federation, Pope Francis said divided Christians should suffer because they cannot share the Eucharist, but that suffering should spur them to work and pray harder for Christian unity.

Pope Francis' upcoming meeting with Lebanon's Christian leaders is an opportunity for the Holy See to make a difference in the country's continuing political and economic crisis, said Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister.

Desde que la semana pasada finalizó la Asamblea Plenaria de Primavera de los obispos de Estados Unidos, se ha prestado mucha atención a la votación para redactar un documento sobre la Eucaristía. El hecho de negar o no la Sagrada Comunión a alguna persona o grupo no estaba entre las decisiones a tomar. La votación de los obispos la semana pasada comisionó al Comité de Doctrina de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos para que redacte un documento educativo sobre la Eucaristía.

Fr. Maximilian Hottle passed away on June 22nd in the company of his brother Franciscans, and a close friend caring for him at San Xavier del Bac Friary. Fr. Hottle’s death was not unexpected for he was battling cancer.

Fr. Alan Valencia encourages every man to seek good examples of fatherhood such as St. John Paul II, and St. Joseph.

As we discussed last week, small Friendship Groups are an integral part of the Cursillo Movement. They consist of a gathering of Christian Friends, who meet weekly to have an “authentic conversation” about the presence of Christ in their lives. We accomplish this using the “Tripod Method” of sharing our Piety, Study and Action. This week we discuss the remaining two legs of the Tripod: Study and Action.

Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino died June 24 at a Manila hospital. He was 61.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and several other Republican leaders in the House asked their Democratic counterparts June 22 to take up a measure introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., that would make the long-standing Hyde Amendment permanent.

The Vatican has informed Italy that elements of a draft law to fight homophobia and discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity could violate the freedom of Catholics to teach and practice their faith.

Cardinal José Advíncula was installed as the new archbishop of Manila, the country's largest diocese, in a ceremony at the Philippine capital's historic cathedral June 24.

Since the conclusion of the Spring Plenary Assembly of the U.S. bishops last week, there has been much attention on the vote taken to draft a document on the Eucharist.

Statement of Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

The president of the German bishops' conference said he personally assured Pope Francis that the Catholic Church in Germany does not want "to go its own way." Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the conference, met Pope Francis privately at the Vatican June 24 and issued a statement afterward.

Nearly a year after the blast at the Beirut port, the memory of that night is still so vivid.

International solidarity in funding the rebuilding of schools, hospitals and churches destroyed by war is important, Pope Francis said, but "we need to be concerned above all for the living stones who have been wounded and dispersed."

When a popular Italian rapper slammed the Vatican for expressing its concerns about a proposed anti-homophobia bill, he told his more than 12.5 million Instagram followers that the Vatican owed Italy some 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion) in back property taxes.