Should a parish address current events at Mass? How? What if “current events” are national tragedies?

Upon hearing about some unthinkable violence somewhere in the world, the first thing I do when I get to the church on Sunday morning is pencil another intention into the prayers of the faithful. In some small way, it feels like a solemn duty.

A detective story is not what we have come to expect from Russo, who generally operates at the same, easy-going speed as his male protagonists.

“At a time when we are facing the ‘highest levels of displacement on record,’ according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, we urge you to increase the refugee resettlement cap and to admit as many refugees as possible within that cap," the letter reads.

Black Catholics have been at the forefront of the push to get the Vatican to confront the church’s racist past and present.

Venezuelan migrants, fleeing violence and political instability at home, had been trickling into the island nation for several years. That trickle became a wave in 2018 as inflation soared and food shortages became acute.

But taken in context, the correspondence penned by disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick to the young men he is accused of sexually abusing or harassing is a window into the way a predator grooms his prey.

“As I visited with victims and those they love, my heart was breaking within me,” Bishop Mark J. Seitz said.

Author Juan Vidal reflects on the El Paso tragedy and what it means for U.S. Latinos and Christians.

"I am spiritually close to the victims of the episodes of violence that these days have bloodied Texas, California and Ohio, in the United States, affecting defenseless people," Pope Francis said.