NATION/WORLD

The religious persecution exercised by China and North Korea, restrictions on religious freedom in dozens of countries and the continuing threat of violence at the hands of religious fundamentalists belonging to a variety of faiths all have worsened since 2018, said Aid to the Church in Need, a papal foundation and Catholic charity.

To express the closeness of God and of the church to every older person, Pope Francis has chosen "I am with you always" from the Gospel of Matthew as the theme for the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

The chairman of the U.S. bishops' migration committee said April 19 he is disappointed that President Joe Biden announced he will not increase the 15,000 cap on the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States for the current fiscal year.

The death penalty has been getting attention across the country this year with legislation introduced or voted on in several states aimed at limiting, repealing or even renewing capital punishment.

As closing arguments began April 19 in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda and priests across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis offered special Masses "For the Preservation of Peace and Justice."

The head of the Irish bishops' conference said the government's move to criminalize attendance at Mass as part of COVID-19 regulations was a "potential infringement of religious freedom and of constitutional rights."

Greeting visitors in St. Peter's Square after nearly a month of tight restrictions due to the pandemic, Pope Francis said he was happy to see people allowed to gather and be present for Sunday noonday prayer.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published a proposed rule to rescind the Trump administration's enforcement of a Title X provision that "draws a bright line between abortion and family planning," as the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee chairman has described it.

Expressing sorrow for the loss of life in yet another mass shooting in the U.S., this time at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson prayed for the victims and their families.

Born in southeastern Nigeria, Obianuju Ekeocha said she was raised in a community where people are pro-life without even knowing that wording.