Gina Christian

The Catholic Church “maintains its stance of not endorsing or opposing political candidates,” said U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops spokesperson Chieko Noguchi, following a recent court case in which a long-standing federal ban against such activity appeared to have been partly relaxed.

A contested Washington state law that would require priests to violate the seal of confession to report abuse “represents an egregious violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment,” Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, who is a member of the U.S. Religious Liberty Commission, told OSV News.

Two firefighters were killed and a third wounded after a man began shooting at them like a sniper as they responded to a June 29 blaze on Canfield Mountain, located just over 4 miles from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.