The deaths of two African-American men last month at the hands of police in Baton Rouge, La., and Falcon Heights, Minn., a suburb of St. Paul, provoked soul-searching and demonstrations against police brutality and institutional racism around the country. In a jolt to the entire nation, the killings

For most of the Muslims, it was the first time they had stepped inside a Christian church.

The plight and vulnerability of Lebanon, surrounded by the chaos of Syria on the north and east and threatened by the tensions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the south, were brought into sharp focus during a visit to the United States by Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Cathol

Rodrigo Duterte, a controversial town mayor dubbed “Dirty Harry” and “The Punisher” for his tough stance on crime—and against the Philippine Catholic Church—was sworn in as the 16th president of the Philippines on June 30. • Thousands of Syrians stranded on t

A Vatican ceremony on June 28 marked the 65th anniversary of the priestly ordination of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It featured a rare joint appearance by Pope Francis and his predecessor that seemed aimed at tamping down speculation prompted by the unusual circumstance that there are two living pop

The pope’s call for Christians to offer an apology to gay and lesbian people, issued during his flight back to Rome from Armenia on June 26, was carefully welcomed by Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego. “I think it opens up a very helpful pathway to dialogue and, hopefully, healing,&rdqu