NEWS

Here is the Vatican's English translation of the homily Pope Francis gave in Spanish July 7 during a Mass with victims of clerical sexual abuse.

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 feast of Blessed Junipero Serra was cause for extra celebration in the Diocese of Phoenix this year. July 1 marked the dedication of a stained-glass window depicting the patron saint of vocations. A day later, the Office of Vocations and Serra Club members throughout the diocese — who pray daily for religious vocations and financially support them — rejoiced in tipping the total number of seminarians out of the 20s to 32.

Landmines wound innocent civilians, "prolong war and nurture fear" long after conflicts have ended, Pope Francis told delegates working on the full implementation of an international treaty banning the production and use of anti-personnel mines.

The Congregation for Clergy signed a formal decree approving the group's statutes and granting it "private juridical personality," which recognizes the group's autonomy as an organization of Catholics not operating in the name of the Catholic Church, but as having some accountability to the Vatican.

Visitors will find another construction zone at St. Francis Xavier beginning June 30. Temporarily, the primary point of contact for the general public has moved to the Marian Shop's front alcove near the church's front entrance. It's all to make room for a new parish center and additional parking.

In three of the cases, the court simply declined to review them, meaning the rulings by lower courts prevail. In the other three, the cases were sent back to the appeals courts with instructions to reconsider them in light of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.

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

As the flames ate away at a Catholic Charities facility on June 20, workers were left wondering where to begin in the process of restoration.

As this summer marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, parishioners at St. Francis in Greenwood, Miss. have a vivid reminder of the related events in their town. They can look up and see where a bullet went through the window