Blind, unbridled consumerism and selfishness — not the number of people on the planet and having children — are the root causes of the world’s problems, Pope Francis said.

Because faith in God is not abstract but impacts the way people live and interact with others, theologians must engage with experts in other fields of knowledge as they investigate and explain the Christian faith, Pope Francis wrote.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton revived his attempt to shut down El Paso’s Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants, just a couple of months after his previous effort was blocked by a state judge.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called on the U.S. government May 6 to implement additional sanctions on Iranian authorities and security officials amid their increased crackdown on women and girls for “defying” that country’s mandatory hijab laws.

When Katie Chihoski walked the graduation stage at the University of Mary April 27, she was holding both her hard-earned bachelor’s degree in social work and her 18-month-old daughter Lucia.

For more than 700 years, the Catholic Church has celebrated “jubilee” or “holy” years as special times to renew people’s faith and experience God’s forgiveness, particularly by going on pilgrimage.

Pope Francis’ document proclaiming the Holy Year 2025 draws special attention to the ecumenical possibilities of the celebration, especially since the jubilee coincides with celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

The document, called a “bull of indiction,” specifies that the holy year will open at the Vatican Dec. 24 this year and close Jan. 6, 2026, the feast of Epiphany. Pope Francis also asked bishops around the world to inaugurate the Holy Year in their dioceses Dec. 29 this year and celebrate the conclusion of the Jubilee locally Dec. 28, 2025.

A federal appeals court May 8 ruled in favor of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, protecting religious schools’ freedom to hire schoolteachers who will uphold their religious beliefs.

Abortion advocates in at least 15 states are seeking to qualify ballot measures for November that would enshrine abortion protections in law or their state constitutions, and some efforts recently got a step closer.