A federal district court in Philadelphia Aug. 13 struck down a religious conscience rule implemented by the first Trump administration exempting employers with religious or moral concerns from having to provide their employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives and other drugs or procedures to which they have an objection.

Pope Leo XIV’s dissertation — which he defended in 1987 for his doctoral degree in canon law — will soon be widely available through The Catholic University of America Press in Washington.

Arriving in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV told reporters he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin can find a way to reach a ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine when they meet in Alaska.

The Sisters of Life took their perpetual vows Aug. 6 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, surrounded by more than 1,800 clergy, religious sisters and brothers, family members and friends.

The streets of Gaza are quieter than they used to be — not because peace has returned. The deep silence of hunger has replaced the noise of daily life.

God never gives up on anyone, even when the person betrays God’s love, Pope Leo XIV said.

Attacks on Christian churches in the U.S. last year totaled 415 — down from 485 in 2023 — although they are “significantly higher” than totals recorded from 2018 to 2022, according to a new report from the Washington-based Family Research Council.

About a decade after the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, overturning state laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman, the justices have been directly asked to overturn the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The Spanish bishops’ conference was criticized by the head of Spain’s far-right VOX party after the church expressed religious concerns following a local council’s measure that would effectively ban Muslims from holding religious events in certain areas.

Japanese Catholics were joined by four U.S. prelates — two cardinals and two archbishops — and by Catholic university leaders and students from the United States who were participating in a “Pilgrimage of Peace” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombings and to pray together for peace and for a world without nuclear weapons.