NEWS

With Jesus' resurrection "love has triumphed, mercy has been victorious," Pope Francis said in his first Easter message "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world).

Of the several widely acknowledged priorities in the run-up to the conclave that chose Pope Francis, including the challenge of secularism and the growth of the church in the global South, none was more prominent than a need to reform the Roman Curia, the church's central administration in the Vatican.

As Georgetown University law professor Michael Gottesman put it, the people who lined up outside the Supreme Court for days to be able to watch a legal argument about the validity of same-sex marriage must have been surprised to find half the court's time devoted to debating legal standing, jurisdiction and states' rights versus federalism.

Lying prostrate on the floor before the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion. The pope presided at the service March 29 to commemorate Christ's death on the cross.

Evils within the church are caused by a self-centeredness and "theological narcissism" that forget to share Christ with people outside of the church, Pope Francis said in the days before his election.

Twenty-one Catholic members of Parliament have written to Pope Francis to ask him to relax the rule on priestly celibacy for Latin-rite priests.

Republicans and Democrats set spending parameters for fiscal year 2014 by adopting two starkly different budget plans before recessing a week before Easter. What's expected when Congress returns April 8 is a lengthy debate over whether austerity and lower taxes or modest adjustments in government spending supplemented with selected tax law changes to boost revenues is the way to go.

Pope Francis called on the world's priests to bring the healing power of God's grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the marginalized and to be "shepherds living with the smell of the sheep."

A federal judge's decision to strike down portions of a Missouri law protecting conscience rights of those who object to coverage of contraceptives and abortifacients in their health plans attacks the conscience rights and religious liberty of all Missouri citizens, said the state's Catholic conference.

The state’s oldest pro-life outreach has a new face overseeing day-to-day operations. Mary Peterson accepted the role of interim executive director for Arizona Right...