Abortion is being promoted as a workaround for the far messier and more urgent task of building an economy that is not mired in sexism. It is not a real choice for those in poverty.

In San Diego and Boston, in Burbank and Chicago and Orange Beach, Ala., libraries all over the country have been ending the dispensing of fines for overdue books.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell discuss some of Pope Francis’ most interesting picks for the College of Cardinals.

The 62-year-old Chicago native who founded the Word on Fire ministry was appointed the next bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minn., by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis sent well-wishes to Queen Elizabeth II as the reigning British monarch began the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of her coronation.

When L.G.B.T. people look at the communion of the saints, we should be able to see someone who looks like us.

The Holy Spirit exists because the Father and the Son, together, are more than the sum of their parts.

Bishop McElroy said he and the pope share a view that the church should focus on “more inclusion” and “outreach to people who have been alienated from the church in the past.”

With the appointment of 16 new cardinal electors, Pope Francis continues remaking the College of Cardinals with an emphasis on the person rather than the location of the bishop.

Jon Hassler wrote novels that examined with infinite compassion the lives of the residents of small-town Minnesota.