San Francisco’s archbishop said May 17 that the “positive reaction” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has expressed about a Vatican official’s letter to the U.S. bishops about Catholic politicians who support abortion receiving Communion “raises hope that progress can be made in this most serious matter.”

In a document published by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life May 18, the Vatican issued a set of pastoral guidelines for local WYD celebrations “to ensure that younger generations feel that they are at the center of the church’s attention and pastoral concern.”

The U.S. Supreme Court said in a May 17 order that it will hear oral arguments during its next term on a 2018 Mississippi abortion law banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Abuse against a minor is a kind of “psychological murder” that can destroy the victim’s childhood, Pope Francis told an Italian association active in the fight against child abuse and online child pornography.

The injury and death of so many innocent people, especially children, caused by escalating violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip is “terrible and unacceptable,” putting the area at risk of sinking into “a spiral of death and destruction,” Pope Francis said.

Kerry said Pope Francis’ moral authority and teaching on the need to address both climate change and poverty can rally more people to make a greater commitment to helping the environment.

In the age of instant communications and fake news, journalists — like everyone else — need to recover the practice of going out and verifying information before they share it, Pope Francis said.

Young members of the clergy who are tempted to avoid the complex realities of the world — finding solace and safety instead in the sacred — can be vulnerable to the illusions of the mafia, said the priest heading a new department on the Mafia and other criminal networks.

Jesuit Father Kevin O’Brien, president of California’s Santa Clara University, announced his resignation following reports of inappropriate behavior, university officials said May 12.

In adapting his script partner Alan Zweibel’s short story “The Prize” into the seriocomedy “Here Today,” director and co-writer Billy Crystal sets out to blend breezy humor with poignant drama. Unfortunately, the film falls flat in both respects.