On March 18 Vatican officials confirmed a papal visit to Armenia was “being studied” but denied that it had already been set for June 22-26. • The John Paul II Medical Research Institute in Iowa City is launching a research program to pursue treatments for a variety of rare, genetic

Pope Francis in his Palm Sunday homily on March 20 decried what he called indifference to the refugees flooding into Europe, making a comparison to authorities who washed their hands of Jesus’ fate before his crucifixion. The pope abandoned his homily text to lament Europe’s handling of

Imagine turning on the tap in the morning and seeing something that “looked like toilet water coming out of your faucet,” in the words of one Catholic leader. That’s been the reality facing thousands of residents of Flint, Mich., every day for more than a year. Now, imagine looking

A Catholic aid official warned that church life faces “grave disruption” from Boko Haram in Cameroon, and a local bishop said the Nigeria-based group had caused a “psychosis of fear.”“This movement opposes all Western values and is also hostile to Muslims who won’

Israeli restrictions on reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Holy Week and Easter are part of the current Israeli government’s policy of making Jerusalem an exclusively Jewish city, Yusef Daher, secretary general of the Jerusalem Interchurch Center, alleged in March. Deploring the net

With Massachusetts facing a growing epidemic of opioid addiction, the state’s Catholic bishops urged in a statement released on March 2 that action be taken to quell the epidemic. “The abuse and misuse of opioids has become a national and local epidemic.... On average, four people lose t

A U.N. report describing sweeping crimes, including the burning alive of children and disabled people and fighters being allowed to rape women as payment, shows South Sudan is facing “one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world,” the U.N. human rights chief said on Ma

The Obama administration is nearing a decision on whether to declare formally that atrocities by the Islamic State against religious minorities, including Christians, constitute genocide. As impatient lawmakers and religious groups step up calls for action, Secretary of State John Kerry may not make

The morning after a rally for Donald J. Trump in Chicago was canceled for fear of violence, the city’s Catholic archbishop warned that “enmity and animosity” are hallmarks of today’s politics and a “cancer” that is threatening the nation’s civic health. &ldq

“The most massive failure of the Catholic community at all levels in the past 20 years has been to address the question of our ongoing involvement in the Middle East,” Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego said on March 7. • The Netherlands-based group Open Doors International urged