Peter Feuerherd

The Field Hospital: Increasingly churchgoers are bypassing neighborhood parishes in favor of faith communities that deliver what they are seeking. And Catholic bishops are obliging the trend.

The Field Hospital: A checklist helps parishes discern whether they are welcoming of those with disabilities; Catholics in Fresno warned of phony funerals; a new documentary on the African-American Catholic experience

Archbishop Wilton Gregory and Archbishop Bernard Hebda are investigating complaints about the leadership of Memphis Bishop Martin Holley, who ordered the transfer of about 75 percent of the diocese's pastors, among other significant changes.

The Field Hospital: The congregation at Our Lady of the Rosary in Detroit has always been small, but parishioners say that attendance at Sunday Mass is about a third of what it used to be. Some say the reason is that the parish is now an oratory and Fr. Daniel Jones pastor.

The Field Hospital: Baltimore Archdiocese reaches out to young adults with wedding change; Laudato Si' in Belleville parishes; a church survives in a Nebraska ghost town.

The Field Hospital: Some 36 percent of all American parishes are now designated as bicultural. Brett Hoover and Hosffman Ospino, two experts on multicultural ministry, agree: The church needs to get this right as it moves into the future.

The Field Hospital: Breaking language barriers; men being ordained at new, higher rate; Hartford Archdiocese members want Fr. Thomas Conway of the USS Indianapolis to be made a saint; a parish nurse in East Texas is a lifeline

Many immigrants are Catholic, but many white Catholics voted for Trump and his anti-immigrant platform. And in the middle of the immigration crisis stand the American bishops.

A trained social worker, Montfort Fr. Francis Pizzarelli has a long tenure as a celebrant in local parishes in Suffolk County, where there were 360 opioid overdoses in 2016, more than two and a half times the number in 2010. He has been ministering to people affected by addiction and other crises, through Hope House since 1980.

The Field Hospital: Diocese of Pittsburgh tries to reach "nones"; Diocese of San Diego responds to mental health issues; Oklahoma governor signs bill for church defense protections; Mass mobs in Detroit

Bishop John O. Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre insists that Bishop McGann Mercy High School must close, but supporters hope to open an independent Catholic high school in its place. 

The Field Hospital: Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik announces ongoing reorganization process; Twin Cities parishes spared from paying for bankruptcy settlement; Massachusetts sanctuary church faces mayoral opposition

Jesuit Fr. Howard J. Gray, a national and international known scholar on Ignatian spirituality and long serving member of NCR's board of directors, died May 7 from injuries received in an automobile accident in Michigan.

Their purpose in going to court is a simple one: to be a witness. They are there to buck up immigrants who, in some cases, are completely alone in a foreign country that wants them out.

The Field Hospital: Iowa, Virginia dioceses create green networks; Buffalo bishop selling his residence as Burlington, Vermont, Diocese sells former cathedral; Pennsylvania pastor resigns amid allegations of adult relationships, financial irregularities

Wisconsin immigration activists supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients are not ruling out further protests, even though House Speaker Paul Ryan has announced he will retire from Congress at the end of this legislative session.

A Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, plan to rescind employees' pensions will not take effect, according to an April 18 press release. The proposed plan is being placed on hold. Until a final decision is made, the statement said, the current pension plan will continue.

Feminist scholars and others at an April 16 panel discussion spoke on Francis' attitude toward women. The consensus: Despite some positive developments in his papacy, Francis' issues with women continue to disappoint.

"I feel we are being cheated," says one retired lay employee who received notice from the La Crosse Diocese that her monthly pension will end with one lump sum payment this summer.

The Field Hospital: Houston is a sprawling city, but Christian, Catholic and other private schools are keeping pace as it grows, expanding to accommodate enrollment demands. Also: fighting hunger; patrolling church grounds; awaiting an audit; parish renewal in a number of places at once; cutting senior home visits