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.
Read More →

HHS ensures hospital patients have access to spiritual care amid pandemic

The chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty praised the Department of Health and Human Services for resolving discrimination complaints over two hospitals' refusal to let patients have access to the sacraments of baptism and the anointing of ...
Read More →

Pope has history of defending marriage, but being open to some civil unions

Pope Francis often has expressed openness to the idea of laws recognizing civil unions, including for gay couples, to protect their rights.
Read More →

Pope, religious leaders pray for peace, greater care for one another

The only way to end war and ensure humanity's survival is "through encounter and negotiation, setting aside our conflicts and pursuing reconciliation, moderating the language of politics and propaganda, and developing true paths of peace," Pope Francis said.
Read More →

Archbishop Sample leads rosary, exorcism to bring peace to Portland, Oregon.

Dakota Hulsey was diligently setting up tables in a downtown Portland restaurant Oct. 17. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw 225 people walking in procession behind the Eucharist on busy Northwest Everett Street. Hulsey paused for a ...
Read More →

Pope repeats call to divert funds from military to fighting hunger

Repeating a call first made by St. Paul VI, Pope Francis urged a global move to divert money from national military spending and use it to "definitely defeat hunger."
Read More →

Around world, people bear burden of climate change, says nuncio

Protecting "our common home for present and future generations is one of the most urgent demands of our time," Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, said Oct. 13.
Read More →