As the election, the pandemic and racism made headlines across the U.S. last year, priests’ homilies did not mention these events nearly as much as did sermons by Protestant preachers.

Protection of voting rights is a moral issue, according to Sister Anita Baird, who was on a panel discussion during a June 21 online forum on voting rights sponsored by Georgetown University.

Creating national norms was never the intent behind a proposal to write a new statement on the Eucharist, said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.

During his keynote address at the Catholic Media Conference on June 10th, Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron of Los Angeles said the role of Catholic media is to prioritize the proclamation of the word of God.

The number is dropping, mirroring trends seen in religious life and the priesthood for the past half-century.

Catholic actors Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson star in the project, Wahlberg as the priest and Gibson as his father.

Of Blacks attending a Catholic church, 41% said they had heard a homily on racism; 39% said they had heard a sermon on abortion.

Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego warned against the "weaponization of Eucharist" as a way to get Catholic elected officials, President Joe Biden among them, to adhere to the church's stance on abortion.

"The people of the United States have entrusted enormous power and responsibility to President Biden. However, the presidency does not empower him to define Catholic doctrine and moral teaching," said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas.

According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, more Americans say the coronavirus pandemic has strengthened their religious faith than those in 13 other nations that possess what Pew called “advanced economies.”