VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite disappointment that Pope Francis was not in Congo July 3, some 2,000 people — most of them Congolese — joined the pope for Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, singing, swaying and ululating. “Let us pray for peace and reconciliation in your homeland, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so wounded […]

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice June 30, becoming the first Black woman in that role.

The archbishop of San Antonio offered prayers for dozens of people found dead as well as more than a dozen survivors discovered June 27 in sweltering conditions in a semitruck.

The Missionaries of Charity have been expelled from Nicaragua, the latest in a series of attacks on the Catholic Church and its ministries from the Central American country’s increasingly repressive government.

The “sense of mystery” and awe Catholics should experience at Mass is not one prompted by Latin or by “creative” elements added to the celebration, but by an awareness of sacrifice of Christ and his real presence in the Eucharist, Pope Francis said.

In a 6-3 vote June 27, the Supreme Court ruled that a former high school football coach had the right to pray on the football field after games because his prayers were private speech and did not represent the public school’s endorsement of religion.

A truly pro-life celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade would lead to cooperative efforts to pass legislation protecting life, women’s rights and motherhood, said an editorial in Vatican News and L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

Amid cries of defiance and jubilation, Father Tim Wezner stood out for his quiet prayer, holding a rosary and contemplating the crowd outside the Supreme Court of the United States June 24 after a majority of justices overturned a landmark decision that for almost 50 years made abortion legal across the land.

Two leaders of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops hailed the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn the court’s 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide and said it is time for “healing wounds and repairing social divisions” with those who take opposing views on abortion.

The court’s reversal of its long-standing abortion ruling brings abortion policy decisions to the state level. At least half of states plan to ban or restrict abortions with this decision in place.