Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison, Wis., has openly disagreed with local government's pandemic advisory of limiting the number of congregants at Masses as interfering with "our pastoral mission."

The Catholic bishops of Washington state, in a public statement, said that observance of the pandemic protocols in the suspension of Masses was done not out of fear but "out of our deepest respect for human life and health."

The most powerful cyclone to hit eastern India and Bangladesh in more than 20 years tore down homes, carried cars down flooded streets and inundated farmland.

Pro-Life organizations are taking exception to the fact that Planned Parenthood affiliates have been recipients of funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Dr. Francis S. Collins, who led the Human Genome Project--and who is a member of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences--has been selected as the recipient of the 2020 Templeton Prize.

Ukrainian Catholic bishops are calling for an end to the practice of commercial surrogacy as dozens of babies are left stranded and not claimed by foreign adoptive parents because of the pandemic.

Conspiracy theories regarding coronavirus being espoused by prominent clergymen like Cardinal Gerhard Muller and Archbishop Carlo Vigano have been rejected not only by fellow bishops but by lay Catholics as well.

World War II in Europe ended on May 7, 1945, with the unconditional surrender of the German Reich. The official celebration is normally marked May 8.

Nearly 50% of Lebanese are living below the poverty line, and unemployment has reached 35% of the working population, according to the government.

The bishops said they find these actions unacceptable and called on Catholics, fellow Christians and all people of goodwill to help them combat such acts of racism and xenophobia.