In an address to its board of governors, Pope Leo XIV thanked the Catholic Extension Society on May 18 for the assistance it provides to the poor. The pontiff praised the organization’s founder, Father Francis Clement Kelley, who more than 120 years ago “sought to reach out to remote faith communities across the United States…

The president of the Mexican Bishops’ Conference issued a powerful call to the Church and society not to turn away from those suffering because of the violence that is the result of organized crime, declaring that “our God hears the cries of the victims, walks with them, and calls upon us, too, not to look…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is set to reestablish a civil rights division focused on religious liberty and conscience protections that was initially created during President Donald Trump’s first administration. The move, announced May 18, restructures HHS’ Office of Civil Rights (OCR) with three divisions: the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division,…

A White House official in President Donald Trump’s administration expressed a desire to work more closely with churches and faith-based leaders in efforts to confront both drug and human trafficking and assist in recovery. Victor Avila, assistant director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), made the comments during a panel discussion on…

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has strongly urged the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to stop expanding production of plutonium pits, the triggers used in nuclear weapons. In a written statement, read by a priest on Wester’s behalf at a public hearing on May 14, the archbishop described nuclear weapons…

ENUGU, Nigeria — A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained untouched after a fire severely damaged sections of Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Enugu on May 10, the administrator at the facility said. In an interview with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on May…