Aleja Hertzler-McCain

As the pandemic's fourth year begins in March and many political and church leaders turn their attention away from COVID-19, high-risk and COVID-vulnerable Catholics say they feel abandoned by the government and the church.

One of Pope Francis' key advisers on clergy sexual abuse admitted that the pontiff's signature effort to confront abuse and cover-up is "very often" not working, as part of a virtual conversation with Catholic abuse survivors on March 2.

On Feb. 17, 82 people began a hunger strike at two central California immigration detention centers, protesting the facilities' conditions and demanding their closure.

The Public Religion Research Institute says its new survey is the first of its kind to examine opinions on abortion in each of the states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

After a deadly shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Catholic campus ministers at St. John Church and Student Center say they are focused on being present for students and community members.

Fordham University's new report criticizes the global Jesuit religious order for placing importance on discretion when handling Catholic priests accused of abuse, instead of on discipline or prevention of further abuse.

Fordham Faculty United called off a strike originally planned for Jan. 30 after the union reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with the administration of the Jesuit university in New York City.

The Catholic Church's role running boarding schools that separated Indigenous children from their family resonates as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case that that could overturn the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act.

Bishop Oscar Cantú told NCR that lack of representation can cause a negative feedback loop for Hispanic Catholics: "When they don't see someone like themselves in those roles, they don't imagine themselves in those roles."

As the U.S. bishops undertake a three-year initiative to revive Catholics' interest in attending Mass, some church leaders are focusing on the tendency of many Latino Catholics to refrain from receiving Communion.

Catholics in the San Antonio Archdiocese endured a fatal school shooting in Uvalde in May, and the deaths of 53 migrants in June. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller spoke to NCR on leading a community amid these tragedies.

Archbishop Roberto González Nieves has lent support to Queremos Sol, a coalition that advocates for renewable energy in Puerto Rico, focusing on rooftop solar. González has urged churches and schools to switch to solar.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent threats to use nuclear weapons should serve as a "tipping point" in the decadeslong pursuit of nuclear disarmament, experts say.

Speakers at both events drew attention to the ReAwaken America tour, in which a number of prominent Christian and Catholic speakers have joined retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, in peddling election denial and pandemic misinformation.

As many return to in-person events in the third year of the pandemic, staff for Catholic volunteer programs are expressing hope that they will face fewer challenges as they recruit now for the 2023-24 volunteer year.

Catholics have a duty to combat voter suppression, said panelists in an Oct. 14 webinar organized by Faith in Public Life titled "Protecting Democracy & Voting Rights: A Conversation With Catholic Activists."

St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church in Alton, New Hampshire, celebrated a Mass and dedicated a memorial on Oct. 9 in honor of the late parishioner James Foley, a freelance journalist who was killed in Syria in 2014 by fighters with the so-called Islamic State.

The documentary “Wonderfully Made" aims to welcome "LGBTQ+ people to reconnect with the spiritual realm in a way that hopefully speaks to them by depicting Jesus as suffering with and for them."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. on Sept. 27 gave the inaugural lecture for a new project on constitutional originalism at the Catholic University of America's law school.

After passage of a bill with historic investments in combating climate change, environmental advocates are now focusing on a proposed bill from Sen. Joe Manchin to streamline the permitting process for energy projects.