Cardinal Edward Egan’s time as leader of one of the nation’s largest archdioceses was haunted by the unfolding child abuse scandal, shocked by the terror spectacle of Sept. 11, 2001, and troubled by a period of fiscal uncertainty and parish closings. But Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop

Barbara Moore, a sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet who 50 years ago this March participated in the civil rights march in Selma, Ala., said that events in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere show that more needs to be done on race relations in the United States. • Marking International Women’s D

The Catholic Church firmly opposes the death penalty and urges all states to move toward its abolition, said the Vatican’s permanent observer to United Nations agencies in Geneva. “My delegation contends that bloodless means of defending the common good and upholding justice are possible

On March 4, the U.S. Justice Department released the results of its investigation into the killing of Michael Brown last August in Ferguson, Mo. It concluded in an 87-page report “that the facts do not support the filing of criminal charges against Officer Darren Wilson.” But a second, p

“There is a need for immediate action similar to what took place in Kobani,” said Bassam Ishak, president of the Syriac National Council of Syria, urging coalition airstrikes to aid Christian and Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants on Feb. 26. • On Feb. 25 a Greek Orth

The international director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Peter Balleis, S.J., said, J.R.S. staff in Afghanistan and around the world were elated to have Alexis Prem Kumar, S.J., home in India and recuperating after almost nine months of captivity. “He’s in good spirits, physically well;

The director of the Holy See Press Office, Federico Lombardi, S.J., came out swinging on Feb. 27 in response to a collection of articles published in the Italian weekly L’Espresso. The articles purport to show internal struggles within the Vatican on ongoing economic reforms. “Passing co

On Feb. 26, the Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham said, “It is shocking that the whole world” has not responded in a proper way to the ongoing crisis in Syria. He called for international unity against the Islamic State to protect Assyrian Christian villages in northeast Syri

The University of Notre Dame website went dark on Feb. 26, its usually lively front page replaced by an image of Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., and a quotation from him: “I never wanted to be anything but a priest, which is in itself a great and unearned grace. I hope to live and die a priest, not

In a letter on Feb. 19 to state legislators, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco wrote that he respects the legislators’ right “to employ or not employ whomever you wish to advance your mission” and expects the same courtesy after several had urged him to remove sexual