VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a tremendous toll on members of the military and their families, said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, but military service also has strengthened the faith of many Catholics and even been a source of vocations.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Bishops make their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on how well they have cared for their faithful, but also to give thanks to God for their bonds with the pope, the successor of the Apostle Peter, said Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Divisions among Christians, including on moral issues, weakens their credibility and their ability to respond to the spiritual yearning of many men and women today, Pope Benedict XVI said.

CANTON, Texas (CNS) -- In an age of digital imagery, one young East Texas artist hopes to revive a tradition of hand-drawn portraits of Catholic bishops using pencil and paper.

“From a reading of the Gospels it emerges clearly that Jesus always showed special concern for sick people. He not only sent out his disciples to tend their wounds but also instituted for them a specific sacrament: the Anointing of the Sick,” Pope Benedict XVI said in his message on the occasion of the 20th World Day of the Sick.

Ash Wednesday, the first day of the Lenten season, is a powerful draw. More people go to church on Ash Wednesday than go to Sunday Mass. More come to have ashes placed on their foreheads than to receive the Eucharist.

The Office of Vocations and the Office of Youth Ministry announced the winners of the essay contest in celebration of Vocation Awareness Week at the Centennial Jubilee Ministry Conference on Jan. 14. The winners include Ani Gonzalez, a junior at W.B Ray High School in Corpus Christi; Sarah Evon, a home-schooled 7th grader; and Joseph Michael Mejias, a 5th Grade student at Sinton Elementary.

ROME - On Sunday, Jan. 15, 66 seminarians of the Pontifical North American College were instituted to the Ministry of Reader during a celebration of the Eucharist. Eric Chapa of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, who is in his first year of theological studies, was among those seminarians instituted.

The Johnson’s attended a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend in November 2006 in San Juan Bautista, California in order, “To get away alone with my husband for the weekend without the children,” Cris Johnson said. Her husband was seeking to improve their communication.

Despite the immense challenge of the large geographic area, the extensive poverty, the unbridled anti-Catholic bigotry and the open prejudice against Mexican Americans—which amounted to the vast majority of the 42,500 Catholics, Bishop Verdaguer set out to build-up the Church in South Texas and to spread the faith. In spite of the area’s poverty, he was able to build churches throughout the Vicariate, thanks to the generous aid from the Propagation of the Faith.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Participants at the annual March for Life were urged in advance of the march not to let themselves be compromised in their beliefs as the federal government pursues regulations that Catholic leaders say constitute an attack on conscience and religious liberty.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Americans “as a people are pro-life” because life and liberty “are intertwined and form the core of our national character,” House Speaker John Boehner told the crowd gathered on the National Mall Jan. 23 for the 39th annual March for Life.

There are many priests that I admire and it would take more than an essay to mention all of them. However, there are three priests in particular that I would like to focus on: Father Rudy Vasquez, Father James Farfaglia and Bishop William Michael Mulvey. Each of them is a wonderful priest, and each has influenced me in a different way.

A priest is a true disciple of Jesus Christ; they participate in Mass, give out the Holy Orders of the Catholic Church, Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Anointing of the sick and attempt to save the souls of the people that reach out to them.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The religious freedom history lesson that Chief Justice John Roberts gives in writing the Supreme Court’s Jan. 11 unanimous ruling affirming a “ministerial exception” to federal employment laws goes back to the Magna Carta, the English law created in 1215.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (CNS) -- A Rockford abortion clinic that opened in 1973 has closed its doors for good.

SALT LAKE CITY (CNS) -- The repressive immigration law passed last year by the Georgia General Assembly, which The New York Times called “one of the nation’s toughest,” was what brought Frank Mulcahy, executive director of the Georgia Catholic Conference, to Utah in mid-January.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi offices of Consecrated Life, Family Life, Young Adult and Campus Ministry and Youth Ministry are sponsoring a Vocations Awareness Contest for girls and young women in our Diocese of Corpus Christi. Four prizes, totaling $1,400, will be awarded to the winners.

Kindergartner Mya Vasquez from Christ The King School in Corpus Christi won 2nd place at the Coastal Bend Science Fair on Jan. 21 at the American Bank Center.

A press conference was held Jan. 24 in the Holy See Press Office to present Benedict XVI's Message for the 46th World Day of Social Communications, entitled: "Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization."