Long before Pope Francis spoke of a poor church for the poor and of taking the church to the peripheries, Bishop Samuel Ruiz García of San Cristóbal de Las Casas built such a church in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state. Inspired by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and gatherings of

Pope Francis has reformed the ceremony of the washing of the feet during Mass on Holy Thursday by decreeing that henceforth it will be open to women too or, as he put it in a year-old decree that was published on Jan. 21, “to all the members of the People of God.” The relevant part of th

A record snowfall that blanketed Washington and much of the East Coast prevented many from making it to Washington for the annual March for Life on Jan. 23. The snow also caused the cancellation of many of the events scheduled to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Roe decision that legalized abortion.

Pope Francis is increasingly turning his attention to the stars of Silicon Valley, meeting Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, for a 15-minute conversation on Jan. 22 just days after shaking hands with Eric Schmidt from Google. • Israel’s appropriation of 380 acres of Palestinian agricultural

Use the power of communication to build bridges and heal wounds, not generate hatred or misunderstanding, Pope Francis said in his message for World Communications Day on Jan. 22. The Catholic Church must proclaim the truth and denounce injustice without alienating everyone in need of God’s he

Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M., urged Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice to take renewed action to build on steps toward peace in the Middle East in separate letters on Jan 20. Bishop Cantú, who chairs the Committee on International Justice and Peace of

Faith organizations are focused on a longer-term goal: to make sure the impoverished city, where President Obama last weekend declared a state of emergency over its poisoned water, is never so neglected again.

Two U.S. bishops wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson seeking an end to deportation raids that rounded up more than 120 Central American immigrants early in the new year. “We disagree with the underlying rationale behind this action: that sending children and families back to the d

The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram killed 16 people in Nigeria on Dec. 25, continuing a gruesome tradition of village massacres on Christmas Day. • Delivering America Media’s John Courtney Murray lecture in New York on Jan. 12, Rabbi Dan Polish described 1965’s “Nostra Aet

As a mother of six, Leah Jacobson is watching other parents try to raise children in a society that no longer supports sisterhood among mothers. And that’s a shame, said the founder and president of the Guiding Star Project, a Duluth-based organization seeking to combine under one roof a varie