The pope and Cardinal McElroy both made statements this week on L.G.B.T. issues, which have until recently not been discussed by church officials.

Dolores R. Leckey, who was founding director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for the Laity in 1977 and at the time one of the highest ranking women in the U.S. Catholic Church, died peacefully of natural causes Jan. 17 in her home in Arlington.

If we understand that self-centeredness, occupying the position where God should properly stand, blinds us to the real, then we can begin to appreciate the Beatitudes as avenues of access to God.

Pope Francis spoke out against the criminalization of homosexuality, critiqued the use of guns by civilians and admitted to his own mishandling of the sexual abuse crisis in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press.

Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.

The pope warned there's a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully "ideological."

The pope acknowledged that he had needed to "wake up to cases that were all covered up."

Pope Francis says he hasn't even considered issuing norms to regulate future papal resignations and plans to continue for as long as he can as bishop of Rome, despite a wave of attacks by some top-ranking cardinals and bishops.

A Reflection for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle, by James T. Keane

In his many articles for America over the years (his first appeared in 1968), Archbishop John Quinn tackled issues ranging from synodality to sex abuse to the priest shortage to abortion. Do those sound familiar today?

We must examine the contradictions in a church of inclusion and shared belonging that have been identified by the voices of the people of God in our nation and discern in synodality a pathway for moving beyond them.

The archbishop of San Francisco writes on the immorality and legal dangers of abortion in 1989.

An Italian publisher has published the late Pope Benedict's book of essays, which he requested be published only after his death, including one on priesthood.

The Vatican has significantly limited the scope for church reforms in Germany. A letter from Rome which became public on Monday evening rejected the establishment of so-called Synodal Councils.

“The recent shootings in Monterey Park and now in Half Moon Bay remind us of how fragile human life is, but also how precious human life is.”

A reflection for the Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, by Tim Reidy

Bishop Álvarez briefly materialized in Managua for a pre-trial hearing, accused of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news.” A frequent government critic, Bishop Álvarez had strongly objected to the closing of Catholic radio and television stations last year.

The Dicastery for the Service of Charity, led by Polish Cardinal Krajewski, spent $2.2 million (2 million euros) in 2022 for humanitarian help in Ukraine.

A Reflection for the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, by Sam Sawyer, S.J.