Court hears church’s lawsuit over Washington state law on abortion coverage

A Seattle-area Christian church is fighting a Washington state law that requires churches to provide coverage for abortion despite their religious or moral objections.

Coalition launches campaign to prepare legal resource for migrants

Immigrant advocates, including Catholic organizations, launched a campaign July 13 to provide legal aid those who may need it, in case Congress, under the Biden administration, approves some type of reform.

Supreme Court sets October date for Kentucky’s abortion case

The Supreme Court announced it will hear oral arguments Oct. 12 in a case from Kentucky's attorney general, who is defending the state's abortion law that was struck down by a lower court.

Genocide charges ‘must be pursued,’ Smith says at religious freedom summit

Charges of genocide -- whoever the victim, whoever the perpetrator -- "must be pursued," Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said July 14 at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington.

Appealing to need for unity, pope restores limits on pre-Vatican II Mass

Saying he was acting for the good of the unity of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has restored limits on the celebration of the Mass according to the Roman Missal in use before the Second Vatican Council, overturning or severely restricting permissions St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had given to celebrate the so-called Tridentine-rite Mass.

Pope prays for victims of German floods as death toll rises

Pope Francis offered prayers and expressed his closeness with the people of Germany after severe flooding in the western part of the country claimed the lives of more than 80 people.

Priests join emergency response to catastrophic flooding in Germany

Emergency response and aid efforts were running in high gear after severe flooding in western and southwestern Germany toppled buildings, washed away vehicles and left at least 100 people dead.

Pope urges Franciscans to recognize God’s presence in the poor

The renewal of the Franciscan order must start, like the order itself did, from being with and learning to really see poor and marginalized people as an "almost sacramental sign of God's presence," Pope Francis told members of the general chapter of the Order of Friars Minor.

TPS urged for Guatemalans; advocates say conditions in country are dire

Extensive damage from back-to-back tropical storms in the middle of a pandemic has made a bad situation worse in Guatemala, argued immigration advocates July 14, seeking a special immigration status for nationals from the Central American nation.

Cardinal implores saint’s intercession to overcome Lebanon’s crisis

Cardinal Bechara Rai, the Maronite patriarch, pleaded for the intercession of Lebanon's beloved St. Charbel Makhlouf as the beleaguered country spirals deeper into collapse, further roiled by the resignation of the prime minister-designate.