Former Vice President Mike Pence defended the role of faith in public life at a Catholic conference on July 27.
News
Catholic Charities USA names its second layperson president and CEO
Kerry Alys Robinson has been named as the next president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the organization representing the interests of its 167 member organizations dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Global synod faces challenge of getting pastoral care to divorced Catholics in parishes
The forthcoming 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops — otherwise known as the Synod on Synodality, which Pope Francis convenes in Rome this October — will examine ways to accompany divorced and remarried Catholics.
‘Closing of the American heart’? Record number of US 40-year-olds never married
A recent analysis shows 25 percent of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married — a record high — and may indicate “the closing of the American heart,” according to W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia and director of the National Marriage Project.
Pope prays for WYD: The church is not a ‘club’ for the elderly
The Catholic Church is not a “club” for the elderly; it needs the participation of young people to keep it alive and ensure it does not “grow old,” Pope Francis said.
Suit filed against Vermont over new mandates for pregnancy resource centers
In a federal suit, the public interest firm Alliance Defending Freedom is suing the state of Vermont over a law, signed in May, that restricts advertising by the centers, considered an alternative to abortion clinics, and prohibits non-licensed health care professionals from working there.
Sinéad O’Connor, iconic Irish singer and victim of child abuse, dies at 56
The July 26 death of acclaimed Irish singer and songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, who was 56, has seen an outpouring of tributes from all walks of Irish life.
DeSantis defends Florida’s curriculum on slavery; draws Black, Catholic criticism
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican seeking his party’s presidential nomination in 2024, faced criticism after defending a controversial portion of Florida’s 2023 Social Studies curriculum suggesting “slaves developed skills” that could be used for their “personal benefit.”
Federal judge blocks Biden asylum ban criticized by US bishops, migrant advocates
Catholic immigration groups and the U.S. bishops have objected to the asylum ban, arguing it violates existing U.S. immigration law, and exposes those who may otherwise be eligible for asylum to additional danger.
Former Mercy chaplain dies at 77
An 11 a.m. funeral Mass for Jesuit Father James F. Joyce, a former chaplain at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore from 2012 to 2016, will be offered July 27 at Fordham University Church in New York.
Biking for Babies: Building a culture of life one mile, one missionary at a time
The July 10-15 ride included stops in Maryland and featured 79 young adult missionaries (18-39 years old) cycling some 100 miles per day to raise awareness and financial support for women and families served by pregnancy resource centers across the county.
Biden administration sues Texas over anti-migrant buoys in the Rio Grande
The Justice Department on July 24 sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over a floating barrier recently installed on the Rio Grande, part of the Republican governor’s latest attempts to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico as part of his “Operation Lone Star” program.