Four years later, various Catholic groups are answering the call from “Laudato Si’” as they try to help people close a gap between the spiritual life and ecological awareness.
The number of U.S. parishes without resident pastors has leveled off to about 3,400, according to the latest data from CARA—but only after dioceses have closed down thousands of churches since 1990.
Religious liberty and the relationship between church and state are two issues that have long vexed the Catholic Church, particularly since the Enlightenment.