The irony of finding himself at a mass shooting event on his home soil after his military career had ended is not lost on Father Hendrickson. “I left the service in 2012, and I thought I was done with that kind of stuff; I thought that was the end of that.”

Melinda Gates's new book is not an attack on Catholicism but an honest accounting of how she came to be in conflict with the church while living her faith.

Across the nation, bishops and other church leaders have spoken out against Trump administration asylum, detention and immigration policies. Many dioceses have mobilized to provide services for those under threat. But some Catholics worry the overall church response has been too muted, given the gravity of the crisis.

“The emphasis of the activists on the ground,” Rolando López said, “is that the governor resigning is not the last step. This really is about a more general critique of the economy of Puerto Rico.”

After a nearly two-decade lapse in federal executions, the move, according to a Department of Justice statement to the press, brings “justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.”

The joint conference of the national organizations for black Catholic clergy, women religious, seminarians and deacons finally made its first stop in Baltimore, a city noted for several firsts on the road to equality in the faith.