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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met separately Wednesday with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide.” Francis spoke about the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians after his meetings, which were arranged before the Israeli-Hamas hostage deal and a temporary halt in fighting was announced. Francis didn’t refer to the deal, which marked the biggest diplomatic breakthrough since the war erupted ...

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MIAMI (AP) — When the Rev. Silvio Baez finished his homily on a recent Sunday, applause broke out among the hundreds of faithful in St. Agatha Catholic Church, on the outskirts of Miami, that has become the spiritual home of the growing Nicaraguan diaspora. For the auxiliary bishop of Managua, his fellow priests and many worshippers who have fled or been exiled from Nicaragua recently, the Sunday afternoon Mass is not only a way to find solace in community. It’s also a means of pushing back against the government’s violent suppression of critics, including many Catholic ...

The Path Forward

Dear neighbors and friends, I have a confession to make…I am a bargain shopper. I very rarely will pay full price for something as I first go to the clearance racks, the St. Vinny’s store, or shop at Kohl’s only on those days when I have a 30% off coupon on top of the clearance price ...

Vatican steps closer to allowing transgender Catholics to be baptized

In the United States, the national conference of Catholic bishops rejects the concept of gender transition, leaving many transgender Catholics feeling excluded. On Wednesday, the Vatican made public a sharply contrasting statement, saying it’s permissible, under certain circumstances, for trans Catholics to be baptized and serve as godparents. “It is a major step for trans inclusion … it is big and good news,” said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church. The document was signed ...

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Like other Christian, Jewish and Muslim clergy in a delegation of Ukrainian interfaith leaders visiting the United States this week, Bishop Ivan Rusyn has a succinct message: “Please, hear our cry.” The deputy senior bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church, a Protestant denomination, said that since the February 2022 Russian invasion, some of his church’s pastors have been killed, and its seminary has been attacked by missiles. In Russian-occupied areas, he said, the church has been forced underground. “To make it short, it has been hell” in occupied ...

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ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has ordered the Vatican to reopen the case of a well-known priest-artist accused of sexually, psychologically and spiritually abusing adult women, and removed the statute of limitations that had previously prevented a church trial based on their claims. The Vatican’s announcement Friday marked a major turnaround for the Holy See and followed a growing outcry among abuse victims and their advocates over the handling of the case of the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik, a once-exalted Jesuit preacher whose mosaics grace churches and basilicas around the world. The ...