When doctors, nurses and health care workers conscientiously object to a procedure to protect the life and dignity of their patients, they must do so respectfully, Pope Francis said.

The United States is suffering from an epidemic of despair. The Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles, one of the earliest descriptions of a Christian community, offers one way to cultivate love.

The announcement of a new conscience protection rule May 2 protecting health care workers who object to abortion procedures on religious grounds was welcome news to U.S. Catholic bishops and the president of the Catholic Health Association.

Every parent wants happy and healthy children, but unless we literally live on a deserted island, we are “a part of the main” and owe an obligation to our neighbors to protect them as well as ourselves.

Accompaniment, not technology, might be the most caring thing we can offer those facing death.

For the rare cases in which mothers consider late-term abortions to spare infants from pain, perinatal hospice programs offer a compassionate and life-affirming alternative.