Observers say the court decision sets precedent and will lead to decriminalization across the country. The decision also removed criminal sanctions for abortion providers.

“Pope Francis invites the entire church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: ‘It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the church of the third millennium,’” the document says.

“We did a lot for the Catholic vote,” the former president said on a call announcing the launch of a new national faith advisory board. “So we’ll have to talk to them. We’re gonna have to meet with the Catholics.”

To date women haven’t been able to vote—not even the religious superiors who participate as representatives of the world’s 641,000 nuns.

A gay substitute teacher was wrongfully fired by a Roman Catholic school in North Carolina after he announced in 2014 on social media that he was going to marry his longtime partner, a federal judge has ruled.

The bishop's decision to join the Catholic Church represents the highest-level transfer since Gavin Ashenden, a former royal chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II, became a Catholic at Christmas in 2019.