News & Commentary

Pope Leo XIV listens during the opening session of an international conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," at the Mariapolis Center in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Oct. 1, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

World must come together to fight climate change, Pope Leo says

People of faith cannot love God while despising his creatures, and people cannot call themselves Christians without caring for everything fragile and wounded, including the earth, Pope Leo XIV told climate activists and political and religious leaders.
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American Rescue Plan praised for helping ‘the most vulnerable among us’

The American Rescue Plan is "an extraordinarily practical way to help the American people, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said in a statement March 11, the same day President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package into ...
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USCCB Administrative Committee’s pastoral message marks year of pandemic

U.S. life has "dramatically changed" due to the yearlong pandemic, and alongside it, racial injustices and political divisions have shaken the nation, yet there is "comfort in God's promise," the U.S. bishops' Administrative Committee said in a March 9 pastoral ...
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Minnesota faith leaders pray for peace, justice during Floyd trial

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis prayed March 7 for peace and justice in the upcoming trial of a white former city police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, an African American. He died while ...
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Remains of Father Emil Kapaun, Korean War military chaplain, identified

A U.S. government forensic team announced March 4 it has identified the remains of Father Emil Kapaun, a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, who was an Army chaplain and died in a Chinese prisoner-of-war camp during the Korean War.
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Bishop Rhoades: Latest COVID-19 vaccine can be used in good conscience

In a new video, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine reiterated that use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine "can be used in good moral conscience."
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Pope, Iraqi Shiite leader affirm importance of dialogue, respect

In a low-key meeting followed closely in Iraq and beyond, Pope Francis and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential leader of Shiite Muslims in Iraq, spent 45 minutes speaking privately.
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