“Few of the suburban communities have a social services infrastructure in place to address the challenges this increased poverty poses.”

Some bishops suggested that structural reforms would be required to preserve the identity and authority of the 22 Eastern churches.

What the unity of the North American Orthodox and Catholic Churches might look like

The agency has been assigned the task of combating the “de- Christianization” of countries that were first evangelized centuries ago.

The Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission is campaigning for the release of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Almost 44 million Americans now live below the poverty line, and 21 percent of all U.S. children are growing up poor.