The United States endured a record number of mass killings in the first half of 2023, according to a new analysis. The report came in tandem with news that at least four people were killed in a mass shooting in Hampton, Georgia, south of Atlanta, on July 15.

An Iowa judge issued a preliminary injunction July 17 temporarily blocking the state’s new “heartbeat” abortion ban, which prohibits most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, while a legal challenge to that law moves forward.

Treated to songs, gifts and a paper medallion designating him “hero,” Pope Francis visited children attending a summer camp at the Vatican.

Former Vice President Mike Pence had a tense exchange with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson July 14 at an Iowa candidate forum about the war in Ukraine, shedding light on both how Republican presidential candidates are navigating increasingly conflicted views on the subject among their base, but also an oft-repeated disinformation tactic by Russian propagandists.

In order to consider the parables of Jesus Christ with empathy, keep in mind the fullness of Jesus’ humanity and ability to tell stories with a sense of humor, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington said in a July 16 homily.

Church leaders in Ukraine and Poland have urged “reconciliation and unity” between their countries in the face of Russian aggression as they marked the anniversary of a wave of wartime massacres in Volhynia region.

Pope Francis has rectified an irregularly appointed bishop in China for the “greater good of the diocese,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Even if the fruits are not immediately visible, Christians are called to sow seeds of faith in the world and people around them in their daily lives, Pope Francis said.

A priest in Melville, Louisiana, is stable and recovering following a July 13 attack with a machete at his church campus. The priest is at a hospital being treated for lacerations to his head and body.

For Father Benny Chittilappilly, a Vocationist priest from southern India, gardening is about more than growing vegetables.