“The church of Odesa shares the pain of its inhabitants. The church is not a building; it is people,” said Archpriest Maximian Pogorelovskiy, a spokesperson for the Orthodox Diocese of Odesa.

The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police two years ago in Minneapolis sparked a national conversation about racism that continues today—the anniversary of his tragic death.

Catholic leaders are reacting with anger and calls to restrict guns following the latest mass shooting that left at least 19 children and two teachers dead.

“I come from a largely pro-life, Italian-American Catholic family, so I respect people's views about that, but I don’t respect us foisting it onto others,” Ms. Pelosi said in response to the move by Archbishop Cordileone.

“Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months,” Archbishop Cordileone said in a statement May 20.

Twenty-six states are certain or likely to ban abortion if as expected the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.