From Catholic News Service

The heads of the member churches of the South Sudan Council of Churches criticized the country's political leaders "on all sides" for placing political and personal interests above the needs of ordinary people, which they said has led to economic decline, famine and ongoing violence.

During the June 21-23 Catholic Media Conference in Quebec City, participants who received tips throughout the four days on writing, marketing, taking photos and engaging in social media were also urged to go back to the basics and understand something simple: the importance of words.

Two former Latin American presidents said the world is running out of time to find a solution to the crisis in Venezuela as President Nicolas Maduro aims to consolidate power over the country.

Days after rebels in Colombia announced turning in the last of their cache of weapons over to international observers, the Vatican announced June 23 details of Pope Francis' September trip to the war-torn South American country.

The Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act contains "many of the fundamental defects" that appeared in the House-passed American Health Care Act "and even further compounds them," said the bishop who heads the U.S. bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City has released a three-minute trailer to a forthcoming documentary on Father Stanley Rother, a U.S. priest who worked in Guatemala for 14 years until he was brutally murdered in 1981 and who will beatified in September.

Faith and films have been lifelong obsessions for director Martin Scorsese, obsessions that he said have given him moments of peace amid turmoil, but also challenges and frustrations that, in hindsight, he will accept as lessons in humility.

With a trip to South Sudan postponed indefinitely, Pope Francis is sending close to a half-million dollars to help two church-run hospitals, a teacher training center and farming projects for families as a way to show the people there his solidarity and support.

The U.S. Catholic bishops "unequivocally reject" acts of violence such as the attack outside a London mosque and pleaded with all people "to cease from committing or plotting to commit further acts."

The retired Catholic archbishop of Havana called for dialogue between the United States and Cuba, and said it's the only way in which past and present problems can be solved.