Observing with great concern the social unrest unfolding in the United States, Pope Francis said no one can claim to defend the sanctity of every human life while turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump visited the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington June 2 shortly before he was expected to sign an executive order at the White House to expand U.S. support for international religious freedom efforts.

Twin Cities-area Catholics are among Minnesotans still processing the horror and tragedy, and grappling with their role — and the Catholic Church’s — both in fighting racism and rebuilding the city.

Much like the coronavirus pandemic, racism is a “spiritual” virus that has spread throughout the world and must be eradicated, said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

A divided Supreme Court May 29 chose not to intervene in an emergency appeal by a church in Southern California to lift COVID-19 restrictions that limit congregation sizes.

Just as the apostles were united once they received the Holy Spirit, the church is united by that same spirit and not by keeping company just with those who agree on a certain interpretation of Christian teaching, Pope Francis said on Pentecost.

Windows of the Cathedral of the Assumption and its offices facing South Fifth Street in downtown Louisville were covered with plywood as a precaution May 30 after a second day of peaceful protests turned to violence and vandalism overnight.

The U.S. Catholic bishops said May 29 they “are broken-hearted, sickened and outraged to watch another video of an African American man being killed before our very eyes.”

The racism “at the heart” of the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis “penetrates every aspect of life in the United States” and seeds “the terror that threatens communities of color and disfigures all our humanity,” Pax Christi USA said May 28.

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious said May 27 it will join a group of over 100 national faith leaders — from Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions — who have called for a National Day of Mourning and Lament June 1 for those who have died from COVID-19.