The Obama administration is nearing a decision on whether to declare formally that atrocities by the Islamic State against religious minorities, including Christians, constitute genocide. As impatient lawmakers and religious groups step up calls for action, Secretary of State John Kerry may not make

A U.N. report describing sweeping crimes, including the burning alive of children and disabled people and fighters being allowed to rape women as payment, shows South Sudan is facing “one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world,” the U.N. human rights chief said on Ma

House Speaker Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, became the highest-ranking politician to speak at a pro-life rally when he joined protesters outside the Supreme Court on March 2 as the justices were hearing oral arguments on a Texas law that imposes new restrictions on abortion clinics. • A N

Speaking out against exploitation and unfair wages for workers, Pope Francis told benefactors to forget about donating money to the church if their earnings came from mistreating others. “Please, take your check back and burn it,” he said to applause. “The people of God—that

Cardinal George Pell of Australia promised to work with a group of survivors of sexual abuse to help prevent suicide among victims and support healing and protection programs, even as he faced scalding criticism in Australia after days of giving testimony from Rome to an investigating commission in

Essays in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, urged the Catholic Church to allow women to preach from the pulpit at Mass, a role that has been reserved almost exclusively to the all-male clergy for centuries. Enzo Bianchi, leader of an ecumenical religious community in northern Italy,