Aleja Hertzler-McCain

"As there's ashes on our head, there's also blood on our hands because we cannot exempt ourselves from what this country is doing," said the Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor emeritus of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

A new documentary about the Virgin of Guadalupe — the vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus, seen by a 16th-century Mexican peasant — premiered Tuesday (Feb. 13) at an event in Los Angeles attended by the city’s archbishop.

Through the Black Farmers Initiative, the Edmundite Missions continue the priests' long history of working for justice in Alabama still facing poverty and poor health outcomes. 

Supported by a $100 million gift, Notre Dame's new Poverty Initiative aims to involve students in anti-poverty efforts, including creating opportunities for research and work with nonprofit partners. 

Eighteen U.S. bishops have signed a letter calling for the United States to cut military spending and instead invest in ending poverty. Signatories included Cardinals Robert McElroy and Joseph Tobin.

In a joint statement, San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy and Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester on Jan. 17 added their voices to growing calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

As Pope Francis prepares for the second of two major summits on the future of the Catholic Church later in 2024, the U.S. bishops' conference is asking American dioceses to hold local listening sessions in early spring. 

"A big, small step forward": Catholic theologians and LGBTQ+ advocates greeted with mixed emotions the Dec. 18 declaration from the Vatican's doctrinal office that priests could bless same-sex couples.

Like Catholic parishioners across the Yakima Diocese, Bishop Joseph Tyson can tell the warming climate is changing the land in central Washington state, where farmworkers "feel the effects of heat and of smoke."

At New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., Catholics joined Protestants and Orthodox Christians on Dec. 11 for a worship service calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

According to a new Pew Research Center poll, 46% of spiritual American Catholics said that "finding a set of beliefs that I make for myself" is essential to what being spiritual means to them.

El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who leads the U.S. bishops' work on migration, offers dying migrants final prayers so he can assure the migrants' families that "they didn't die alone."

Conservative Catholic groups across the country are lobbying their local libraries to remove books with LGBTQ themes from their shelves. 

A group of U.S. bishops, led by Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester, and a Catholic sister met with senior White House officials about Pope Francis' latest climate letter, Laudate Deum, for 45 minutes on Nov. 17.

Five Catholic activists were arrested in a U.S. Senate office building on Nov. 9, as part of a witness calling on American politicians to push for a cease-fire in the ongoing Israeli war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

About 60 Catholics gathered for a pray-in on Nov. 2, hoping President Joe Biden would hear their prayers for peace in Israel and Palestine and their calls for him to support a cease-fire and pursue diplomacy. 

U.S. Catholics said that individual Americans can help "a lot" to reduce the effects of climate change at higher rates than U.S. adults overall, a new Pew poll finds.

Pope Francis cited Donna Haraway's use of the term "contact zone" in his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum. They are most well known for their work that explores humanity's relationship with animals and machines.

The Africa Faith and Justice Network, founded by three Catholic religious orders to lobby in D.C., is celebrating 40 years. The organization now also seeks to empower advocacy efforts across the African continent.

Climate scientists say the science is sound in Pope Francis' new exhortation, Laudate Deum, and theologians applaud his "laser focus" on the climate crisis. But some also raise criticisms.