News & Commentary

Bishop Alberto Rojas of San Bernardino, Calif., the main celebrant, distributes Communion to a detainee during a Mass on the grounds of the ICE Processing Center near Adelanto, Calif., Dec. 10, 2025. Attendees said the Mass, which took place in the Mojave Desert, was deeply emotional for both the bishops and the roughly 300 detainees present.

California bishops celebrate ‘very powerful’ Mass for detainees in ICE facility

A group of seven California bishops celebrated Mass at the ICE Processing Center outside the town of Adelanto in the Mojave Desert on December 10, providing communion to the roughly 300 detainees present.
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Pandemic’s economic fallout must not hinder generosity, pope says

International solidarity in funding the rebuilding of schools, hospitals and churches destroyed by war is important, Pope Francis said, but "we need to be concerned above all for the living stones who have been wounded and dispersed."
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Quadruple amputee has set high goals for college, future

When asked how many surgeries he has had since contracting a deadly bacterial infection more than a decade ago, 21-year-old Franklin Mejias Castellano must pause and think for a moment.
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Nun calls protection of voting rights a moral issue at Georgetown forum

Protection of voting rights is a moral issue, according to a Black sister who was on a panel discussion during a June 21 online forum on voting rights.
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UN investigators call on church to do more to stop abuse

While acknowledging Vatican-mandated reforms in the handling of clerical sexual abuse, four U.N. special rapporteurs urged the Vatican to make it mandatory that church officials everywhere report abuse allegations to civil authorities.
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With immigration, bishops urge attitude of welcome

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, encouraged prelates meeting via Zoom for the U.S. bishops' virtual spring assembly to find ways to welcome what may be a growing number of immigrants to their dioceses.
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Supreme Court upholds health care law’s individual mandate

In a 7-2 decision June 17, the Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, saying the states that sued over the law did not have the legal right to do so.
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