Texas bishops cut ties with Texas Right to Life

by Paul Stinson March 2, 2018

The divergence in Texas might be viewed as a microcosm of the national debate over what it means to be pro-life.

Activists and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, march up Broadway in New York City on Feb. 15 during the start of their "Walk to Stay Home," a five-day 250-mile walk from New York to Washington to demand that Congress pass a clean DREAM Act to save the program. (CNS photo/Shannon Stapleton, Reuters)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

‘Lives in the balance’: U.S. bishops’ call-in urges action for Dreamers

by J.D. Long García February 26, 2018

“Now is the time to pass legislation that enables the Dreamers to become citizens and full contributing members of our society,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles.

In this April 9, 2009, file photo, Hong Kong's outspoken cardinal Joseph Zen speaks during a news conference in Hong Kong. The retired archbishop of Hong Kong has slammed the Holy See's negotiations with Beijing as a "catastrophe" that would bring suffering to millions of worshippers, as a bitter dispute inside the Roman Catholic Church over its future in China escalates in a dramatic fashion. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

News, Politics & Society

Retired cardinal criticizes Vatican negotiations with China

by Gerry Shih - Associated Press February 7, 2018

Zen said the Vatican had “given in” to the Communist Party

Rosa B., 23, a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who was brought to the U.S. when she was 4, speaks during a Feb. 3 rally in Los Angeles in support of a permanent legislative solution for immigrants. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., says religious leaders need to stand with immigrants and help the flock see their dignity. (CNS photo/Monica Almeida, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

Cardinal Tobin: Christians must recognize humanity of immigrants, refugees

by Rhina Guidos - Catholic News Service February 7, 2018

“We forget where we came from, not just as the early Christian church, but also as a country.”

Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown, Ohio, who chairs the U.S. bishops' Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, gives a talk Jan. 27 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Charlotte, N.C., about racism in the Catholic Church's history and how his committee is addressing it. (CNS photo/Patricia L. Guilfoyle, Catholic News Herald)

News, Politics & Society

The church must ‘speak and live in truth’ to combat racism, bishop says

by Antonio De Loera-Brust February 1, 2018

A majority black parish in downtown Charlotte has fostered an ongoing dialogue on race with members a majority white parish less than three miles away.

President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Dispatches, Politics & Society

U.S. bishops condemn Trump’s proposal to end ‘chain migration,’ say it threatens families

by J.D. Long García January 31, 2018

“Families aren’t chains. They are mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, grandmothers, grandfathers and brothers and sisters.”

Students attend a prayer vigil Jan. 23 at a church in Marion, Ky., after a 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun that day at Marshall County High School. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for prayers for the victims killed and injured in a pair of school shootings in Kentucky and Italy High School in Texas Jan. 22. (CNS photo/Harrison McClary, Reuters)

News, Politics & Society

USCCB president calls for prayer after pair of school shootings

by Catholic News Service January 24, 2018

Cardinal DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Christians experience the pain of the family and friends of the victims “as if it were our own.”

People gather at a June 14 candlelight vigil in Manila, Philippines, in memory of the victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Philippine Catholic bishops called for vigilance against bullying, ostracism and harassment of gay people in the wake of the incident in which police said a lone gunman killed 49 people early June 12 at the club. (CNS photo/Mark R. Cristino, EPA)

Dispatches, Faith

‘Why does the church hate gay people?’ Boston bishop seeks to listen to young people

by Michael J. O’Loughlin January 23, 2018

“We are losing three generations of people, and we need to hear why,” said Bishop Mark O’Connell.

New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, smiles as he processes from the sanctuary after celebrating the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington on Jan. 18. The all-night vigil is held before the annual March for Life, which this year marked the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion across the nation. (CNS photo

News, Politics & Society

Cardinal Dolan praises House for voting to protect babies who survive abortion

by Catholic News Service January 23, 2018

“A child born alive following an abortion should receive the same degree of care to preserve her life and health as would be given to any other child born alive at the same gestational age,” said Cardinal Dolan of New York.