Signs Of the Times

The Communist Party reminded its 86 million members of its official atheism.

Criminal charges were filed on June 5 against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis stemming from its handling of Curtis Wehmeyer, a troubled priest who was eventually convicted of child abuse in 2013 and defrocked in March 2015. Ramsey County prosecutors charged the archdiocese as a corporati

If there is any place in need of salvation at this moment, it is the Central American country named after Jesus Christ. Even as it prepared to mark one of the biggest events in its history—the beatification on May 23 of the slain Archbishop Oscar Romero—El Salvador, which in Spanish mean

A major independent survey reports that the best way to end global hunger may be to help small farmers, especially as they try to adapt to the changing climate. According to 98 Caritas organizations, the top three causes of food insecurity are lack of resources—land, seeds, loans, access to ma

A detailed and highly critical analysis of the U.S. immigration detention system by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Center for Migration Studies is calling for a radical restructuring of the way the government handles undocumented immigrants.Released on May 11, the 44-page report tra

It’s rare to hear much about the church in the western United States. Given that the national media and the bishops’ conference lie in the East, that’s no surprise.Still, it warps our sense of the American church. In 1950, the Northeast was home to 46 percent of the nation’s

The U.S. bishops’ International Justice and Peace Committee urged Secretary of State John Kerry to step up efforts to advance nuclear disarmament. The comments were made in a letter on May 12 issued as the meeting of the Ninth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear

A key turning point in the relationship between Catholics and Jews was reached 50 years ago with the Second Vatican Council document on inter-religious relations, a cardinal and rabbi told a group of religious leaders on May 20. The document, the “Declaration on the Relationship of the Church

The Vatican has published the Statutes for the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, another important step in the wide-ranging effort by Pope Francis to ensure protection for children and minors in church institutions worldwide. The new statutes give this papal body a formal juridical