VATICAN CITY — By Vatican standards, it’s a small revolution: A pontifical council is holding a major assembly without prepared speeches.

Participants in the Pontifical Council for Culture’s mid-November plenary meeting have been told to prepare for free discussion instead. more . . .

VANCOUVER — When a traffic accident took the lives of two of their sons and left another son paralyzed two years ago, St. Francis of Assisi parishioners Geoff and Maria Moeller turned to their Catholic faith for solace.

The shock and disbelief surrounding such a major tragedy and the shattering of so many hopes and dreams is a parent’s worst nightmare come true. more . . .

Pope Benedict said that lay Catholics have a responsibility to promote social justice and charity in a globalized world often marked by injustice and inequality.

Irish Catholic women feel that they are not sufficiently appreciated by the Church, but their faith remains strong, according to a newly published survey.

Five Anglican bishops have decided to join the Catholic Church and step down from their current positions with the Church of England, a Vatican spokesman said.

In a year when tax and budget issues dominated the ballot questions before U.S. voters, Catholic leaders offered the guidance of Catholic social teaching but generally remained neutral on specific referendum topics.

In a ceremony joined by President Raul Castro, Cuba’s Catholic bishops inaugurated the San Carlos and San Ambrosio Seminary Nov. 3, the country’s first major Church-related construction in the half century since the revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Pope Benedict said daily meditation on the life of Christ is a good way for people to grow spiritually and remove the “trash” from their consciences.

Pope Benedict said the world has a responsibility to help refugees find places to live and work in safety, as part of its vocation to form “one family.”