In a video message released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, Pope Francis offered his prayer intention for the month of January, which he dedicated to people who suffer from religious discrimination and persecution.

In oral arguments that took nearly two hours, several of the justices found fault with the state’s decision process in determining just how religious a school was to decide if it could participate or not.

A task force created by the Archdiocese of Seattle urges more pastoral outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics. But it declined to press for changes to employment provisions at Catholic institutions.

As Nicaragua prepares for a general election in November, Mr. Ortega has ramped up a broad repression of dissenting voices. Could the Catholic Church be his next target?

While the Taliban have promised not to shed any blood, some locals fear that the Islamist regime will lead to persecutions and violence.

Some activists in Hungary have reacted to an anti-L.G.B.T.Q. law by calling for an investigation of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, writes Marc Roscoe Loustau. But turning the crisis into a political football may backfire.