Since 2006, there have been no executions in California, after a judge ruled that the state’s three-drug cocktail could constitute cruel and unusual punishment if one of the drugs failed to work. On Nov. 13 the state announced that it has developed a new “humane and dignified” meth

The Vatican calendar for the Year of Mercy deliberately set aside Sept. 4, 2016, as a possible date for the canonization of Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, if her sainthood cause is concluded by then, according to Federico Lombardi, S.J., the Vatican spokesperson. The canonization would be celebrated by

In the aftermath of the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris, anxiety is understandable, said Bill Canny, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Migration and Refugee Services. But governors and other politicians are not responding reasonably by calling for a &ldqu

Though the quadrennial “Faithful Citizenship” statement was in the end approved during the U.S. bishops’ fall assembly in Baltimore, the normally pro forma vote included a surprise expression of discontent. Several bishops suggested rejecting it and starting over this year. Bishops

The holy doors of Rome’s four papal basilicas will be opened on Dec. 8, beginning the Holy Year of Mercy. • On Nov. 20 a palliative care facility in Quebec became the first to announce that it will be offering medically induced death as the Canadian province’s new end-of-life care l

“If a guy panhandles and you don’t have anything, you could at least respond to him like he’s not a piece of [excrement].”