“My deepest prayer for you today, as a priest, citizen and friend, is that you always remember that the Lord is near.”

Hours before his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden, his family, friends and congressional leaders of both parties gathered for Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.

The first 25 shelter residents were vaccinated Jan. 20, the Vatican said, and more will be given the vaccine in the coming days.

Cardinal Dolan said President-elect Joe Biden “speaks with admirable sensitivity about protecting the rights of the weakest and most threatened” but also “ran on a platform avidly supporting this gruesome capital punishment for innocent preborn babies.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory offered the invocation at a pre-inauguration memorial service Jan. 19 to honor and remember the more than 400,000 Americans who have succumbed to COVID-19.

In 2015, Father Leo O’Donovan presided over the funeral Mass for Beau Biden following his death from brain cancer. Tomorrow, he will deliver the invocation at Joe Biden’s inauguration.

The power of pardon should be directed toward repairing the failures of the legal system; toward those whose needs are especially pronounced; and toward the building up of a culture of mercy and forgiveness.

At this juncture in American political and religious history, John Courtney Murray has something to say for the Catholic Church trying to recover a sense of itself in the public square.

Joe Biden will deliver his inaugural address just two weeks after an ‘unprecedented attack on our democracy,’ says former White House speechwriter Terry Szuplat. We can expect a call for unity—and accountability.

“There can be no justice on the fly in matters of life and death.”

The Rev. Patrick J. Conroy, a lawyer and Jesuit priest, stepped down as chaplain to the House of Representatives at the beginning of this year, ending nearly ten years of service to the People’s House.

The longtime U.S. maltreatment of refugees and asylum seekers cannot be waved away by a new president.

The Vatican on Monday abruptly abandoned its extradition request for an Italian woman wanted on embezzlement-related charges. The case would have tested whether Italy considers the Vatican a place where someone can get a fair trial.

Raised Catholic, I was familiar with St. Paul’s words. But it took an unforgettable trip to Alaska for me to appreciate what they might mean in my own life. 

Haiti is the birthplace of what we now know as the Americas, but the majority-Black nation has continuously suffered neglect and outright abuse.

Dr. King and St. Ignatius found themselves needing to turn inward to feel the graces that would inspire their hearts and their pens to share how God was working through them in moments of personal strife.

With “social injustice, division and conflict” threatening the common good, people need to rediscover and recommit to the vision of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Pope Francis said.

What are we to do with the fact that the insurrectionists and presumably many more of President Trump’s supporters really treat this man like a messiah?

How closely did you follow the news this week? Take our Catholic news quiz and find out.

And to those still tempted to go to Washington, D.C.: Please stay home.