Both Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 after the Vatican started vaccinating its employees and residents Jan. 13.

The House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump, charging him with “incitement of insurrection” for a speech lawmakers said spurred the riot at the U.S. Capitol and making him the first commander in chief to be impeached twice.

The Supreme Court Jan. 12 reinstated a federal requirement that women who are seeking abortion-inducing drugs must do so in person, not by mail, as a federal judge had allowed last year due to the pandemic and the high court had let stand.

After a flurry of court decisions, the Supreme Court reversed a pair of rulings from federal appeals courts that had put death-row inmate Lisa Montgomery’s execution on hold, and it denied two other last-minute requests to postpone the execution.

This highly anticipated second volume in historian Kevin Starr’s history of Catholics in the United States is nothing short of glorious.

The Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments asked priests to take special anti-COVID-19 precautions this year when distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, including sprinkling ashes on the top of people’s heads rather than using them to make a cross on people’s foreheads.

Praising those who help the sick and praying for those who are sick, Pope Francis called on Christians to practice what they preach, including by guaranteeing equal access to health care for all people.

Just as the political and criminal fallout has continued over the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol by people seeking to halt the Electoral College certification of President-Elect Joe Biden’s win in the November election, the fallout has extended to job losses for those who have been identified as taking part in the siege.

The Catholic Health Association issued an extensive list of priorities it would like President-elect Joe Biden’s administration to pursue.

Seeing the U.S. Capitol building being stormed by a rioting mob Jan. 6 brought a visceral reaction from Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska. Fortenberry, who is Catholic and often attends daily Mass at St. Peter’s Church on Capitol Hill, called the attack a “desecration.”