The death toll from the attack on Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in the Douailah district of Damascus has risen to 22, with 59 others injured, according to Syria’s Ministry of Health. The attack took place during a Sunday evening Divine Liturgy attended by nearly 400 faithful.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of Washington over its recent law mandating that priests must violate the seal of confession if child abuse is learned about during the sacrament of reconciliation. The DOJ in a press release announcing the lawsuit filed on June 23 said the Washington law “violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics.”

In one week, a Vatican City court will reconvene to consider the next phase of appeal in a lawsuit brought by the first and former Vatican auditor general against his controversial dismissal from office eight years ago. While less well known than the landmark financial crimes trial which resulted in the conviction of several former Vatican officials and advisers, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu...

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun knew exactly what he was doing when he posted online a photo of himself leading a Eucharistic procession after saying a traditional Latin Mass in Hong Kong, and he is sending multiple messages with it, a friend of his told the Register. Among the intended recipients are Catholics in the Diocese of Hong Kong and Pope Leo XIV, who has yet to signal his intentions with respect to the Latin Mass...

Imagine watching your favorite nature documentary. The predator lunges rapidly from its hiding place, jaws wide open, and the prey suddenly goes limp. It looks dead. For some animals, this freeze response, called "tonic immobility," can be a lifesaver. Possums famously "play dead" to avoid predators. So do rabbits, lizards, snakes, and even some insects.

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday called bishops to be firm and decisive in dealing with scandal and sexual abuse, linking vigilance against abuse to living a chaste life. Speaking to over 400 bishops from 38 countries in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope also emphasized the importance of pastoral prudence, poverty, and synodality in the ministry of a bishop.

Edna May? There was a time when people knew, whom many then considered to be, the globally-recognized No. 1 A-list entertainer celebrity in the world, Edna May Pettie. She was born in Syracuse, New York, 1878, and died in Switzerland in 1948. If anyone now reading these words knows her name, that would be truly amazing. The same can be said for many so-called stars and celebrities of the past...

How appropriate that Flannery O’Connor should have been born on the Solemnity of the Annunciation: the liturgical feast celebrating the willing acceptance of a God-given vocation. As we marked Miss O’Connor’s centenary three months ago — and yes, boys and girls, it was Miss O’Connor, as no one would have been more repelled by the neologism Ms. — that’s the dimension of her life that struck me most powerfully...

Recently, the Vatican rolled out a major website redesign for the first time since its launch in the mid-1990s. One thing that caught my eye was that the link to the Catechism of the Catholic Church was moved to the site’s front page. I grinned and thought, “I remember when the Catechism wasn’t on the site at all!” For several years, whenever I searched for...

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