As people in Sierra Leone lose hope and worldwide fear grows over the worst Ebola outbreak on record, “Our situation is desperate,” says the Rev. Peter Konteh, executive director of Caritas in the Archdiocese of Freetown.On July 30 Father Konteh described the mood of the West African cou

In a letter read during an Environmental Protection Agency hearing in Washington on July 30, the chairmen of two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops offered their support for national standards to reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants in an effort to limit climate chan

As an Israeli Defense Forces operation into the Gaza Strip entered its second day on July 18, the head of Caritas Jerusalem said he would launch an international appeal for assistance in Gaza and would not wait until the end of the Israel-Hamas hostilities, as he has done in the past. The Rev. Raed

When Pope Francis visits South Korea on Aug. 14 to 18, he will find a Catholic Church that exemplifies much of what he hopes for the church around the world, including a highly active laity, extensive efforts to help the needy and strong relations with non-Christian communities. [America will provid

Two weeks after protesters in Murrieta, Calif., made national news by attempting to prevent busloads of mostly unaccompanied children from reaching an emergency detention facility, the bishops of California have issued a statement calling on Catholics to support these refugees. “These children

The fate of the 1,700-year-old Christian community of Mosul in Iraq seems to have been sealed as the city’s remaining Christians, heeding a warning from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, fled the city on July 17. • The Knights of Columbus pledged $1.4 million on July 14 to help cover c

On July 17 the convicted murderer David Paul Hammer succeeded in an appeal against his death penalty sentence. A federal judge in Pennsylvania agreed to commute his sentence to life without parole. In April 1996 at a penitentiary in Allenwood, Pa., Hammer strangled his cellmate, 27-year-old Andrew H

Religious and civic leaders urged President Obama to include a religious exemption in the planned White House executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In a letter on July 1, the group of 14 faith leaders, including the Rev. Larr

‘Justice has prevailed,” said two U.S. archbishops, commenting on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case on June 30. The court determined that certain “closely held” private businesses can be exempted from a government requirement to include contraceptives in t

Bishop says influx of young migrants is a humanitarian crisis, not an immigration problem.