As the first anniversary of the election of Pope Francis approached in mid-March, the Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project noted the pope’s overwhelming popularity but reported it could not tease out a discernible “Francis effect” in the behavior of American Catholics. Pew

A growing interest in the tradition of Lent is giving Protestants something more in common with Catholics. Though slightly different in practice, some call this a step toward convergence in the global church. Christopher Ruddy, an associate professor at The Catholic University of America who is an e

Muslims are being “cleansed” from the western part of the Central African Republic, and thousands of civilians risk being killed “right before our eyes,” the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, told the U.N. Security Council on March 6. U.N. Emer

After 16 homicides in San Mateo County, Calif., last year, grieving mothers and the members of St. Francis of Assisi in East Palo Alto, walked their neighborhood on March 8, praying the Stations of the Cross for an end to gang violence. • More than 35,000 people have signed an Internet petition

The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration will travel to Nogales, Ariz., from March 30 to April 1 to tour the U.S.-Mexico border and celebrate Mass to remember 6,000 migrants who have died in the U.S. desert since 1998. • Vatican medical experts reported on March 6 that there is no natural

A questionnaire to gather feedback for next year’s Synod of Bishops on the family has been the source of some confusion since it was delivered to bishops’ conferences around the world in October. In preparation for the international meeting, the synod’s secretary general, Archbisho