Peace can spread and grow from “small seeds” like including someone who is left out of an activity, showing concern for someone who is struggling, picking up some litter and praying for God’s help, Pope Francis told Italian schoolchildren.

Republican lawmakers in Arizona’s Legislature chose different responses to the question of whether to repeal the state’s 1864 law banning abortion April 17. Some Republicans in the state Senate allowed that chamber to proceed to a repeal vote, while Republicans in the state House blocked a comparable effort.

Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report shows an increase in abortions from the previous year, while also showing a decrease in health services.

What should the faithful do if they, or others in their circle, suspect the presence of the demonic?

Addressing the John Carroll Society at its April 13 annual awards dinner in Washington, Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly underscored something that Pope Francis once told him, that the laity have a co-responsibility along with the clergy for the mission of the Catholic Church.

Poland’s church is seeking the beatification of a young lay missionary, who was stabbed to death in a bungled robbery shortly after starting work with Catholic nuns at a children’s home in Bolivia in 2017.

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich found himself taking over the Archdioceses of Paris in the spotlight — three years after the Notre Dame fire, as the world watched the cathedral being rebuilt, and waiting for the work to be completed.

Longing for the past will not save contemplative religious orders from closing their monasteries or experiencing shifts in vocations, Pope Francis said.

Final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will grant workers protections for time off and other job accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions like miscarriage, stillbirth and lactation — but also for abortion, which was opposed by many of the bill’s supporters.

The concept of Christian nationalism is not compatible with Catholic teaching, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., said on a recent episode of his “Walk Humbly” podcast.