Meeting with delegates to the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis May 11, the pope underscored the dual nature of the church’s charitable arm as a service of charity and a Catholic institution dedicated to pastoral care.

It’s a way of life that leads many to call on their faith for protection.

Processing of migrants will be fully reinstated under Title 8, a measure that experts said would stiffen the consequences for migrants who attempt to cross the border into the United States irregularly.

Catholics working with migrants welcomed the end of Title 42, saying it had prevented many migrants from applying for asylum and, in many cases, forced people back to dangerous Mexican border towns where they were extorted and kidnapped by police and drug cartels. But they also expressed misgivings about what might replace it.

Eliminating the root causes of forced migration means ensuring everyone has an equal share in the common good, their fundamental rights are respected and their lives can flourish through integral human development, Pope Francis said.

Missouri lawmakers passed a bill May 10 banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender, as well as a measure blocking transgender student athletes from competing on sports teams opposite their biological sex.

A panel of federal advisers voted May 10 in favor of a pharmaceutical company’s request to sell a type of their birth control pills over the counter and without a doctor’s prescription, clearing the way for the Food and Drug Administration to approve such sales of oral contraception.

Parish leaders seeking guidance for the National Eucharistic Revival’s upcoming parish year now have a 24-page resource to assist their discernment.

A gathering for American theologians, priests, seminarians and laity will be held May 16 at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

Every year the U.S. marks National Nurses Week May 6-12, ending on the birthday of nursing and social reform pioneer Florence Nightingale.