Noonan was a prolific writer, authoring books on topics of concern to the church such as contraception, abortion and religious freedom, as well as legal subjects.

“People listen to those who are talking the talk and walking the walk. You become influential when you relentlessly and unwaveringly pursue what's right.”

Georgetown University and the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States began a process of penance and restitution, acknowledging an institutional sin in 1838 which preserved the university but condemned 272 to slavery in Louisiana.

The U.S. Catholic Church welcomed thousands of new Catholics at the Easter Vigil on April 15 in churches big and small across the country.

Remarkably, the death sentences are being pushed through this month in an effort to beat the May expiration date for the state’s supply of midazolam, a controversial sedative that is one of three drugs used in lethal injections.

Three in 10 Catholics admit to having unfavorable views about Muslims, Catholics are less likely than other Americans to know a Muslim personally, and nearly 50 percent of Catholics can't name any similarities between Catholicism and Islam.