Suffering and death are human realities that raise questions people need to ask themselves, Pope Francis said.

Catholics gathered at the continental level say the Catholic Church must be united, not uniform, and embrace its many forms of expression throughout the world, said members of the synod preparatory commission after a weeklong meeting at the Vatican.

The world needs new economic models that respect human dignity and protect creation, Pope Francis told an interfaith delegation from England.

Catholics in Kansas City, Mo., are turning to faith, dialogue and discernment after a local Black teen was shot by a white homeowner for mistaking an address in the course of picking up his younger siblings.

Any responsible Christian has to be worried about economic life, and how it’s treating others of our brothers and sisters.

The U.S. Supreme Court said it would extend the administrative stay in the abortion pill dispute until April 21, temporarily keeping in place status quo federal regulations regarding the use of an abortion drug, and giving the court additional time to consider a lower court’s ruling to stay the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug.

In Somalia, 8.3 million people are in urgent need of assistance due to widespread drought that has displaced 1.4 million people, most of whom are women and children, according to the United Nations.

Martyrdom is primarily an act of love, not heroism, and while it often comes in the midst of persecution, it should motivate Christians to seek peace and reconciliation, Pope Francis said.

A Georgetown panel considered “the question of women’s ordination” April 17, describing the matter as “unfinished” despite Pope Francis’ current teaching and St. John Paul II’s 1994 teaching that Jesus Christ reserved the sacred priesthood to men alone even as the Lord promoted the dignity of women.

Arizona’s Catholic bishops praised the state’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for vetoing legislation on gun regulations they called “problematic.”