Religious leaders started getting together after Oct. 7, 2023, in the hope of preventing a repeat of Arab-Jewish violence that erupted after a previous conflict in Gaza two years earlier.
The bishops' decision formalizes a yearslong process for the U.S. church to address transgender health care. They also approved a special message on immigration, expressing concern over enforcement and conditions in detention centers.
Father James Martin has become one of the most well-known Catholic priests in the U.S. But his journey to the priesthood took him by surprise after a chance encounter with a documentary.
The state is shaping up to be big battleground over abortion rights in November. Research shows a majority of U.S. Catholics supports abortion rights — even though church leadership does not.
Religions hold a variety of views toward IVF. Catholicism has one of the strongest negative judgments against the practice. Yet many in the church still use the procedure in order to have children.
The possible plan could affect President Biden, among other Catholic political figures. The Vatican is calling for U.S. bishops to reach a consensus and says any such move could sow division.
In the midst of a pandemic that's wreaking havoc on prisons and disproportionately affects older people, activists known as the Kings Bay Plowshares have been sentenced to up to 33 months in prison.
Opposition to the death penalty is "a teaching that deserves our respect," says Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley. "I don't think it can be simply disregarded."
Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., is among 13 church leaders who will be elevated to cardinal at a ceremony at the Vatican next month.
