NEWS

Fr. John Lankeit, rector of Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix, is urging local Catholics to gather for a 7 p.m. holy hour July 25 in order to pray that a black mass scheduled to take place Sept. 21 in Oklahoma City will be canceled.

A Latin America expert for Catholic Relief Services, the head of the bishops' migration committee and the president of a Catholic college in Michigan were among those urging the government toward humanitarian responses to a surge of children and families crossing the U.S. border from Central America.

Freedom and service took on a new dimension for some Catholics on July 4.

For the past decade, Fr. Craig Collison has been the play-by-play announcer for the Xs, whose home ballpark is Lewis and Clark Stadium in Sioux City. He commits to the home games of the Explorers for the season, with a particular caveat.

Newly ordained priests Grimditch, Kenney and Sperry "consecrated as eternal priests of the new covenant, to preach the Gospel and celebrate the liturgy"

Petitions and letters to members of Congress and the Obama administration are among the measures being pursued by advocates urging humane treatment of the Central American children who are trying to migrate to the United States.

More than a meeting and homily, Pope Francis laid out a clear road map for the church when he celebrated Mass and welcomed abuse survivors to the Vatican.

Catholic leaders in the Holy Land called for an end to the cycle of violence and criticized Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its collective punishment of Palestinians.

Asking for forgiveness, Pope Francis told abuse survivors that "despicable actions" caused by clergy have been hidden for too long and had been "camouflaged with a complicity that cannot be explained."

The Catholic Sun Newspaper was recognized with several awards at the annual Catholic Media Conference last month in Charlotte, N.C.