“This is God’s creation being revealed to us, and in it we can see both his astonishing power and his love of beauty,” Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, the director of the Vatican Observatory, said.

Sister Simone Campbell, a longtime advocate for economic justice and health care policy, and late labor leader Richard Trumka received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in a White House ceremony.

Cardinal Cupich, among others, expressed dismay at the recent mass shootings in Chicago and Philadelphia. Cupich repeated his call “to enact serious, broadly popular gun safety measures.”

The archbishop of San Antonio offered prayers for 46 people found dead and another 16 survivors discovered June 27 in sweltering conditions in a semi-truck. Four more later died after being taken to hospitals.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore pleaded for peace in light of recent attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers in the United States.

The 90-year-old cardinal was detained May 11 under China’s national security law for “conspiracy to collude with foreign forces,” but he has not been charged with that.

A Vatican-approved Chinese bishop remains in detention more than one year after his arrest for allegedly violating the communist country’s repressive regulations on religious affairs.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said he was surprised and inspired by Ukrainians he met when he made a brief visit to Lviv, Ukraine.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced to staff May 4 the closure of the Washington and New York offices of Catholic News Service. 21 employees will be laid off.

Longtime pro-life advocate Deirdre McQuade died April 21 after a bout with metastatic breast cancer. She was 53.