WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The last government shutdown -- well, threatened shutdown, anyway -- seems so long ago. The nine-hour "funding lapse" of Feb. 9, like the three-day shutdown that began Jan. 20, hinged on how Congress was going to address the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that President Donald Trump said he would end March 5. He also called on Congress to pass a measure to save the program, created in 2012 by President Barack Obama via executive order. In the January shutdown, Democrati

Update: Immigrants, advocates navigating post-DACA-deadline landscape

by Mark Pattison - Catholic News Service March 5, 2018

In the January shutdown, Democratic lawmakers backed down on their threat to keep the government closed until a DACA deal was reached. ment funded through March 23 was overshadowed by the $1 trillion spending package of which it was a part.

News, Politics & Society

Cardinal Pell hearing on sex abuse charges begins in Australian court

by Rod McGuirk - Associated Press March 5, 2018

Pell’s lawyers told the court that the cardinal plans to formally plead not guilty.

Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl greets young people during a pro-life youth rally and Mass at Capital One Arena in Washington Jan. 19 before the annual March for Life. (CNS photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard)

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Cardinal Wuerl urges parishes to implement ‘Amoris Laetitia’

by Michael J. O’Loughlin March 3, 2018

“The rule to follow in all cases,” the reflection says of family ministry, “is the love and mercy of the Lord.”

Pope Francis visited the "Casa di Leda," a group home for women prisoners and their young children, in Rome on March 2. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

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Pope visits group home for women prisoners with small children

by Cindy Wooden - Catholic News Service March 2, 2018

The pope left chocolate eggs as gifts during his surprise visit to Casa di Leda, a group home for incarcerated women with small children.

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Broader representation of women in church is a process, cardinal says

by Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service March 2, 2018

Some dicasteries once led by cardinals are now led by bishops and priests and, thus, pave the way for more participation by laypeople, especially women, in church decisions, said Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa.

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Pope wants canonization of slain Jesuit to move forward, ambassador says

by Junno Arocho Esteves - Catholic News Service March 2, 2018

Father Grande was known as a champion of the poor and the oppressed at a time when El Salvador was on the threshold of a civil war, a war that eventually killed over 70,000 people.

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Michigan bill spurred by Nassar scandal concerns Catholic Church

by David Eggert - Associated Press March 1, 2018

Michigan Catholic Conference spokesman David Maluchnik confirmed Tuesday that extending the statute of limitations is “of concern” to the church’s lobbying arm.