Mark Pattison

John Sweeney, who led the AFL-CIO for 14 years from 1995 to 2009, and headed one of the nation's largest unions, the Service Employees International Union, for 15 years before that, died Feb. 1 at age 86 at his home in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland. No cause was given.

Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego warned against the "weaponization of Eucharist" as a way to get Catholic elected officials, President Joe Biden among them, to adhere to the church's stance on abortion.

"The Eucharist unites and strengthens us in our efforts to secure justice for the unborn, and to create a culture wherein every human life is cherished, nurtured and protected from the moment of conception until natural death," said Archbishop Lori, chairman-elect of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

Hank Aaron, who was baseball's home run king for 33 years, defied racism to make his mark in the game he loved. Aaron died Jan. 22 at age 86.

The Catholic Health Association issued an extensive list of priorities it would like President-elect Joe Biden's administration to pursue.

Several prominent individuals who participated in the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump insurrectionists have been fired, including a Catholic college professor.

The count had been interrupted by hundreds of pro-Trump extremist marauders who breached the Capitol that afternoon, bringing the count to a halt.

Gloria Purvis, who was told after the Dec. 30 broadcast of the EWTN radio show "Morning Glory" that the show was canceled effective immediately, said she has no regrets about using the show to discuss racial matters following the police killing of George Floyd last May.

The signals were clear at the start of the pandemic. No Masses, no offertory income. No offertory income, nothing to assess by the diocese. 

What had been separate Democratic and Republican coronavirus relief bills became a bipartisan effort thanks to Congress' Problem Solvers Caucus, according to a lobbyist for Network, a Catholic social justice lobby.

President-elect Joe Biden's Catholic faith came less into play than the values he and Pope Francis share at a Georgetown University-convened online panel examining how U.S.-Vatican relations could be shaped under the Biden administration.

The U.S. bishops approved a budget for the year 2021 that has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The vote was 193-1 with four abstentions.

Although the U.S. bishops' four-year strategic plan was adopted one year ago, it was not scheduled to go into effect until January 2021. That gave the bishops a window to address two issues that have captured the world's attention since last November: the coronavirus pandemic and racial inequality.

The U.S. bishops renewed the mandate of their Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism for a second three-year term.

With the U.S. bishops conducting their annual fall general meeting virtually, the papal nuncio to the United States told them they must join in the "Challenge of Healing the World."

Christians top the list for countries where they face either governmental or social hostility, according to a new report issued Nov. 10 by the Pew Research Center. Christians have topped the list each year since Pew started collecting data in 2007.

Fr. Michael Joncas was watching President-elect Joe Biden's victory speech Nov. 7, but not even he was expecting Biden to quote from his well-known hymn "On Eagle's Wings."

The Election Day defeat of Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota, will shrink the number of pro-life Democrats in the House of Representatives by two when the 117th Congress is seated in January.

A new presidential poll issued Oct. 15 by the Pew Research Center shows Catholic former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, ahead by 10 percentage points, 52%-42%, over the Republican incumbent, President Donald Trump.

Rule alterations by the Securities and Exchange Commission on shareholder resolutions will result in higher hurdles for shareholder activists, according to leaders for two faith-based investor groups.