Roman Catholics

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A senior Vatican cardinal predicted Saturday that there will be no change in the Catholic Church's practice and teaching about marriage, divorce and the reception of Communion at an upcoming meeting of bishops on family issues.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of U.S. gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience Wednesday.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis named 15 new cardinals Sunday, selecting them from 14 nations, including far-flung corners of the world such as Tonga, New Zealand, Cape Verde and Myanmar, to reflect the diversity of the church and its growth in places like Asia and Africa.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church's top theologians on Friday to listen to what ordinary Catholics have to say and pay attention to the "signs of the times," rather than just making pronouncements in an academic vacuum.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- American Cardinal Raymond Burke, a fervent opponent of abortion and gay marriage, has been removed by Pope Francis from another top Vatican post.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Sunday announced plans for the merger of almost a third of the parishes in the Archdiocese of New York, one of the largest reorganizations in the archdiocese.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis on Sunday beatified Pope Paul VI, concluding the remarkable meeting of bishops debating family issues that drew parallels to the tumultuous reforms of the Second Vatican Council which Paul oversaw and implemented.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Catholic bishops predicted widespread approval Saturday of a revised document laying out the church's position on gays, sex, marriage and divorce, saying the report is a "balanced" reflection of church teaching and pastoral demands.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey nun credited with curing a boy's eye disease moved a step closer to sainthood Saturday in what church officials said was the first beatification Mass held in the United States.