Raising hell: Catholics debate church teaching on eternal punishment

By Parish Admin

ROME (CNS) — Sent by his religious order to Hong Kong to share the Gospel in Asia, one Catholic priest’s missionary work is raising hell — but not with the Chinese Communist Party. “Not a Hope in Hell” is Dominican Father James Dominic Rooney’s 2025 book-length defense of eternal damnation — a Catholic doctrine he…

Love with Christ’s compassionate heart, Pope Leo tells seminarians

By Parish Admin

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Do not be afraid to grapple with your innermost thoughts, feelings and problems so that your heart can be filled with God and his compassion, Pope Leo XIV told seminarians. Also remember to listen to the “voices” of nature, music, poetry, the humanities and the cries of the poor, the oppressed…

Bishop Zaidan Urges Prayers for Syria Amid Sectarian Violence

By Parish Admin

WASHINGTON – “Sectarian violence, of whatever religious or ideological type, if not stopped, will derail Syria’s full integration into the community of nations,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, in response to the suicide bombing on the Antiochian Church of St. Elias in Damascus on Sunday that killed at least 22 and injured dozens more. As…

‘Stop the tragedy of war,’ pope says after U.S. bombs Iran

By Parish Admin

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hours after the United States bombed the sites of three nuclear-enrichment facilities in Iran, Pope Leo XIV called the situation in the Middle East “alarming” and said diplomacy was the only responsible way forward. “Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: Stop the tragedy of war before it…