NATION/WORLD

In an unprecedented move, Vatican prosecutors have indicted 10 individuals and entities, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, former prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, on charges ranging from embezzlement to money laundering and abuse of office.

As the nation' celebrates its independence on the Fourth of July, Americans should recall the country's "other founding" by the missionaries who, beginning in the 1500s, came to proclaim "the love of Jesus Christ to Indigenous peoples," said Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez.

Proposing a budget without the Hyde Amendment "is an affront to the majority of Americans who do not want their tax dollars funding abortion on demand resulting in the death of children in the womb," 172 members of the U.S. House said in a July 1 letter to President Joe Biden.

Just a third of Americans overall say abortion should be legal in most or all cases in the second trimester of a woman's pregnancy and just 19% overall say this should be the case in the third trimester.

The University of Notre Dame observed the conclusion of Religious Freedom Week in the U.S. with a Religious Liberty Summit June 28-29 that invited ecumenical leaders and scholars from around the nation to discuss the various challenges to religious liberty.

Pope Francis has asked dioceses around the world to make it possible for every family to participate in the World Meeting of Families by holding local celebrations during the gathering in Rome June 22-26, 2022.

The discovery of vaccines is "one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine," but the global community is facing the dual challenges of giving everyone access to them and overcoming "vaccine hesitancy," especially when it is based on false information, said the Pontifical Academy for Life and the World Medical Association.

When scientists share their data and dialogue with experts in other fields, including religion, they contribute to the search for a holistic truth that promotes the common good and, therefore, promotes peace, Pope Francis said.

A Catholic parish in Washington frequented by President Joe Biden has expressed disappointment with a June vote by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to begin drafting a document on the Eucharist.

In response to a late June announcement, the United States will be conducting an investigation of former federally funded boarding schools to search for graves of Native American children, a spokesperson for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said June 28 the bishops will "look for ways to be of assistance."