There are no second-class Christians, Pope Francis said. The laity, including women, and the clergy all have special gifts to edify the church in unity and holiness.

As the world faces the persistent threat of nuclear conflict, people of faith must unite in advocating for peace and fostering dialogue, Pope Francis said.

With Ukraine’s first lady seated in the front row, Pope Francis told people at his general audience that it is “a shameful tragedy for all humanity” that Russia’s war on Ukraine has lasted more than 1,000 days.

Pope Francis announced that he will canonize Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati next year and that the Vatican will host a world meeting on the rights of the child Feb. 3.

As activists push President Joe Biden to commute existing federal death sentences during his final months in office, a new report by the Death Penalty Information Center examined what it called persistent racial disparities in federal death penalty prosecutions.

Pro-life organizers are hoping to augment that sense of togetherness with the merger of two pre-march youth events, announced Nov. 14. The Diocese of Arlington, Va., and host of Life is VERY Good since 2009, and the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life, co-hosts of Life Fest since 2022, are joining forces to create one big pro-life rally called Life Fest ahead of the 2025 March for Life Jan. 24.

Pope Francis prayed for a conversion of hearts and a start to dialogue, reconciliation and peace in a letter marking the 1,000th day since Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion reached the 1,000-day mark Nov. 19, Ukraine still stands as “a testament to the miraculous endurance of our people, to God’s grace,” said Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

A watchdog group in the U.S. is applauding calls to make “zero tolerance” for clerical abuse the rule for the worldwide Catholic Church.

Catholic organizations have reiterated their “solidarity with immigrants” and shared what the first 100 days of a second Trump administration may bring on immigration policy.