Pope Francis received a formal recommendation to declare St. Irenaeus of Lyon a doctor of the church, the Vatican said.

A law firm’s report on how abuse cases were handled in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising incriminated retired Pope Benedict XVI, with lawyers accusing him of misconduct in four cases during his tenure as Munich archbishop.

At the time of his death at age 93 Dec. 29, Philippines-born Catholic Fame Academia was one of the few remaining witnesses to the Bataan Death March carried out by the Japanese military in the early days of World War II against U.S. and Filipino soldiers.

Chongli, a popular resort town and venue for the main skiing events during the upcoming Winter Olympics, holds a history of persecution and massacre of Catholics in the region during the imperial and communist regimes.

Charging that religious practice is increasingly threatened by legal maneuvering and public actions that seek to limit the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious rights, speakers during an online launch of the National Committee for Religious Freedom Jan. 18 called on Americans to join the effort.

The Supreme Court announced Jan. 14 that it would hear an appeal from a former high school football coach in Washington state who says his rights to freedom of speech and religion were violated when he was fired in 2015 for praying on the football field after team games.

A federal appeals court sent a challenge to the Texas abortion law back to the state’s Supreme Court Jan. 17.

Officials from numerous law enforcement agencies and media outlets in Colleyville, Texas, made use of Good Shepherd’s parking lot and facilities during a hostage standoff.

Pope Francis told Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims that “we need to press forward with humility and patience, and always together, in order to encourage and support one another, for this is what Christ desires.”

Meeting with a delegation from the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land in Rome to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their bimonthly magazine, “Terrasanta,” Pope Francis encouraged the group to continue to highlight stories of genuine brotherhood.