Among the first acts of his second term, President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders including on immigration, birthright citizenship and climate. Some Catholic organizations expressed concern about the scope of his orders and their potential impact on migrants.

Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Washington gathered at Holy Family Catholic Church in Hillcrest Heights to honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As Catholics prayed across the country for President Donald Trump as he was sworn in as the nation’s 47th president Jan. 20, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York was in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington offering an opening prayer during the inauguration ceremony minutes before Trump took the oath of office.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago reassured migrants in his archdiocese that reports of a possible mass deportation by a new administration in Washington that would target the Chicago area “wound us deeply.”

The controversial lay movement Sodalitium Christianae Vitae was forced to confirm news that it was suppressed by Pope Francis after two of its members leaked the news to a Catholic news outlet.

The president of French bishops’ conference has officially requested that prosecutors open an investigation into the case of Abbé Pierre, following new sexual assault allegations against the once iconic priest and advocate of the poor.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and named as his successor Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas.

The Catholic University of America in Washington will look into consolidating some academic departments, as part of a recently announced effort to address a $30 million budget deficit.

President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House Jan. 20, becoming the nation’s 47th president four years after he left office as its 45th.

In the West Bank, scenes of joy were delayed but the streets erupted in cheers as the first 90 prisoners, mostly women and teens, freed from Israeli prisons, were brought home in white Red Cross buses after midnight Jan. 20 as in the Gaza Strip first caravans of those displaced by 15-month war attempted return to their homes — of which scores are flattened — and first 600 trucks of aid entered the strip.