Bishops to Put Together
Pastoral Plan for
Marriage, Family Life Ministry
BALTIMORE, November 15, 2017 -- U.S. Catholic bishops acknowledged that Catholic families and married couples need more support from the church at large and hope to offer it by giving parishes plenty of resources through a pastoral plan for marriage and family life.

US Bishops: Fighting Racism
Is a Long-term Battle
But a Critical One
BALTIMORE, MD, November 13, 2017 -- Dialogue to foster conversion of hearts is the goal of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, said the group’s chairman in his first address to the bishops’ conference Monday.

Object to Abortion?
Congressman Says
You Might Need this Law
WASHINGTON, DC, November 8, 2017 -- Pro-life health care workers and institutions need stronger legal protections from pressure to help provide abortions, backers of proposed federal legislation have said.

Bishop Robert Barron on
George Weigel's "Lessons in Hope"
SANTA BARBARA, CA, September 28, 2017 -- George Weigel’s latest book, Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul II, is the third panel in a great triptych he has composed in honor of the most consequential Catholic figure of the second half of the twentieth century.

New Climate Commission
Could Advance Human Dignity,
US Bishops Tell Congress
WASHINGTON, DC, September 25, 2017  -- The United States should create a commission to combat the harms of climate change and promote human dignity as a whole, the U.S. bishops said in a letter to Congress.

How Do We Heal Racial Tensions? 
Start by admitting errors, US bishop says
WASHINGTON, DC, September 27, 2017 -- To address the longstanding racial divide within the United States – and within the Catholic Church in the country – Catholics should learn more about the history of that divide, and honestly engage with that history, and with others attempting to tackle similar issues themselves.

How Should a Catholic
Evaluate Health Care Policy?
WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2017 -- Another effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act seems on the verge of failure, after three Republican senators stated that they would not support a pending Senate bill. As next steps for health care reform are considered, how should Catholics approach health care policy, according to Church teaching?

Defying Vatican,
Belgian Religious Continue 
To Offer Euthanasia
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sepember 12, 2017 -- The board of the Belgian Brothers of Charity announced Tuesday it will continue offering euthanasia to patients in their psychiatric centres, despite being ordered by the Vatican to stop doing so.

'Anti-Catholic Bigotry' Concerns as
Judicial Nominee Questioned about Faith
WASHINGTON, DC, September 7, 2017 -- A Catholic nominee to a federal circuit court faced hostile questions about her faith from U.S. senators on Wednesday, prompting outrage from Catholic leaders.

A Bioethicist's Take on
Child Cancer Treatment that
Uses Gene Therapy
WASHINGTON, DC, Sepember 7, 2017 -- A genetic modification therapy designed for treating pediatric leukemia has drawn both praise and caution from a Catholic bioethicist, after recently being approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Cardinal Sarah Says Fr. Martin's
LGBT Outreach Falls Short
NEW YORK CITY, September 1, 2017 -- Catholic outreach to LGBT individuals must always include the truth about Catholic teaching and chastity, Cardinal Robert Sarah said in an article responding to Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin.

US State Department
Recognizes ISIS Genocide
WASHINGTON, DC, August 15, 2017 -- Religious freedom advocates were heartened by the State Department recognizing in its annual religious freedom report released Tuesday the genocide of Christians by the Islamic State.

RAISE Act
Will Weaken Family Bonds
Says U.S. Catholic Bishops Chairman
WASHINGTON August 2, 2017 —The Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin and Chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration, says that the newly proposed RAISE Act would cause our nation to turn its back on those setting out to build better lives, weaken family bonds and impact the nation's ability to respond to those in crisis.  Bishop Vásquez's full statement follows:  

The Marian Heart of America:
Our Lady of Guadalupe and
Our “Post-Christian” Society
NAPA, CA, July 31, 2017 --  I want to begin by looking at the cultural moment we find ourselves in. The signs of the times. Second, I am going to suggest that we need to see our present situation in light of the “event” of Guadalupe, I believe that in this event, we can see God’s “vision” — his plans and purposes — for the Church in the Americas.

Vatican Official, at UN,
Emphasizes ‘Right to Remain in One’s Homeland'
NEW YORK, July 25, 2017 -- A Vatican official addressed a UN meeting on migrants and development and emphasized “the right to remain in one’s homeland in dignity, peace, and security.”