Catholic News 2

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iranian moderates have won a majority in parliament and a top clerical body charged with selecting the next supreme leader, dealing a major blow to hard-liners in the first elections held since last summer's landmark nuclear agreement with world powers....

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood's diversity crisis has loomed large over awards season and the big question going into the 88th annual Academy Awards was whether it would dominate the ceremony, too. It did, of course, but it wasn't alone....

LEESBURG, Va. (AP) -- The final-days sprint to Super Tuesday has erupted into a feud over a white supremacist as Donald Trump's Republican rivals scramble to stop the billionaire businessman from becoming an "unstoppable" force in the 2016 presidential contest....

 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others.""Even as Americans rema...

WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...

(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, testified via videolink for four hours overnight on Sunday from a Rome hotel to the Australian Royal Commission investigating how different institutions in the country handled sexual abuse.Listen:  Cardinal Pell has repeatedly given his support for the commission's work, and has vowed to meet individually with victims who had travelled to Rome and has said he hoped the coming days "will eventually lead to healing for everyone."During his testimony, he acknowledged the Church has not handled the issue of sexual abuse well in the past.“I'm not here to defend the indefensible. The church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those,” Cardinal Pell said.“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” he continued.Cardinal...

(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, testified via videolink for four hours overnight on Sunday from a Rome hotel to the Australian Royal Commission investigating how different institutions in the country handled sexual abuse.

Listen: 

Cardinal Pell has repeatedly given his support for the commission's work, and has vowed to meet individually with victims who had travelled to Rome and has said he hoped the coming days "will eventually lead to healing for everyone."

During his testimony, he acknowledged the Church has not handled the issue of sexual abuse well in the past.

“I'm not here to defend the indefensible. The church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those,” Cardinal Pell said.

“The Church has made enormous mistakes and is working to remedy those, but the Church in many places, certainly in Australia, has mucked things up, has let people down,” he continued.

Cardinal Pell is scheduled to give further evidence over the next three days.

Full Article

TOGLIATTI, Russia (AP) -- Once intended as a Soviet rival to the capitalist symbol of Detroit, Russia's auto-making hub of Togliatti is sliding into economic depression. And blue collar workers are taking the brunt of the pain as employers use the threat of joblessness to slash or withhold wages at will....

ANAHEIM, California (AP) -- Five Ku Klux Klan members who were arrested following a vicious brawl in Anaheim were released because evidence shows they acted in self-defense, police said....

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's moderates have dealt another blow to the country's hard-liners, winning the majority of seats in last week's vote for the Assembly of Experts, a clerical body empowered with choosing the nation's supreme leader....

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Iran and Saudi Arabia's rivalry has played out in proxy wars across the region, and escalated further after the two severed diplomatic and trade ties last month. Yet in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, popular Iranian restaurants are outselling feverish calls for a boycott and stand as a reminder of when ties between the two countries held promise....