But much of the church remains -- its soaring ceilings lined with beautiful frescos, its towering Corinthian columns and even its ornate wooden confessional.

The State Department announced Wednesday (Feb. 5) that 27 countries have joined the new International Religious Freedom Alliance that seeks to reduce religious persecution across the globe.

When the president arrived Thursday morning (Feb. 6), he stood before the applauding crowd and held aloft a newspaper emblazoned with a headline announcing his acquittal by the U.S. Senate from impeachment charges.

A majority of the deaths documented by Human Rights Watch in the report Wednesday occurred less than a year after the deportees returned to El Salvador; some were within days. The organization also confirmed at least 70 cases of sexual assault or other violence following their arrival in the country.

“It is unacceptable for the federal government to walk away from its shared commitment under the Medicaid program to ensure care for all low-income and vulnerable individuals in our country,” reads a statement released on Jan. 31 by the Catholic Health Association, the domestic justice committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA.

The Nina Maria day care center is one of many projects run by the Diocese of Cucuta to help Venezuelan migrants, who are leaving their country to escape poverty, violence and an increasingly authoritarian government.

Christian funerals outside of churches have been banned in some areas of China as the communist government begins to enforce new regulations on religious practices.

Trump proposed the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over West Bank settlements, creating Israeli enclave communities in the heart of the West Bank while promising the possibility of a future independent Palestinian state under certain conditions.

America's "The Word" columnist, Jaime L. Waters, reflects on how her Catholic faith informs her academic and spiritual understanding of sacred Scripture.

Msgr. Frank Del Prete, pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Saddle River, New Jersey, remembers Higgins Clark not only as a talented writer but also as a lively, committed parishioner.