News from Around the World

A priest recently mentioned to me that he was not planning to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He told me he was concerned that RNA vaccines could alter our DNA and he heard there were also risks to fertility.

In his greetings to pilgrims present in the Courtyard of St Damasus for the weekly General Audience Pope Francis recalled the attack on St Pope John Paul II 40 years ago, the liturgical feast of Our Lady of Fatima and he invited the faithful to recite the Holy Rosary for the end of the pandemic.

As Catholic colleges grapple with how to reopen in the fall, many are already saying they will require their students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 and some schools also are mandating that staff and faculty members be vaccinated.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, joined by priests and lay faithful, prayed the rosary's sorrowful mysteries May 8 for the people of India now suffering as COVID-19 ravages their country.

Since early May 11, Israeli bombs have been falling around the Rosary Sisters school in Gaza, which sustained light to moderate damage inside and outside the compound -- including to the front door and solar panels used for electricity.

Catholic proponents of nuclear disarmament joined scientists in calling on President Joe Biden to pursue an ambitious plan to end the threat nuclear weapons pose to the planet.

Four former students at the minor seminary located in the Vatican testified May 12 at the ongoing trial of Father Gabriele Martinelli, who is accused of sexually abusing a younger student at the St. Pius X Pre-Seminary.

The roughly 15,000 members of the Society of Jesus, their collaborators and many people who draw on the spiritual heritage left by St. Ignatius of Loyola are preparing to mark a special Ignatian Year beginning May 20 and lasting until the saint's feast day, July 31, 2022.

ROME — Marking the beatification of an Italian judge murdered by the Mafia, a Vatican office announced the formation of a working group on “the excommunication of mafias.”

The head of the Vatican’s doctrine office is warning U.S. bishops to deliberate carefully and minimize divisions before proceeding with a possible plan to rebuke Catholic politicians such as President Joe Biden for receiving Communion even though they support abortion rights.

A coroner in Northern Ireland ruled that a priest and nine lay Catholics who were shot dead by British troops almost 50 years ago were "entirely innocent" and their deaths were unjustified.

When the Rev. Marlon Tilghman learned that any Maryland juvenile taken into custody can be questioned by police without a parent being informed or without an attorney present, his thoughts turned to his teenage granddaughter.

Catholic residents of a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood are mourning the loss of a landmark church.

Christian leaders in the Holy Land expressed deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence, as the two sides clashed in Jerusalem and Israel launched airstrikes into Gaza, responding to rocket attacks.

From a low brick building on a commercial stretch of highway in Louisville, Our Lady's Rosary Makers packages enough beads and other supplies to make 6.5 million rosaries each year.

Bishop George Nkuo was marking the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination on the premises of St. Augustine College Nso on May 7 when gunshots were heard, sending participants to the ground. There had been an exchange of fire between government troops and separatist rebels near the facility.

The patriarchs and heads of Christian churches of Jerusalem expressed deep concern over the growing violence in Jerusalem, which increased with 331 Palestinians reportedly wounded at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during clashes with Israeli police May 10.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception will host a recitation of the rosary on Monday, May 17, at noon (EDT) as part of Pope Francis' call for a worldwide marathon of rosaries for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marking the beatification of an Italian judge murdered by the Mafia, a Vatican office announced the formation of a working group on "the excommunication of mafias."

More than 60 Brazilian bishops who work in the Amazon presented the Brazilian Senate with a letter recommending that the country's upper house withdraw a bill because it threatens extensive damage to public forests and traditional populations.