Archbishop Carlson, who has headed the St. Louis Archdiocese since 2009, is 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope. Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of Springfield, Massachusetts, will be his successor.

The gradual opening of churches or planned openings -- with limits on congregation size -- have for the most part come as cities and states announce a gradual reopening of a variety of what they deem as "nonessential" public and private entities, including churches, as the threat of COVID-19 has subsided.

Fears are running extremely high that at the current pace of infection, with the number of cases and fatalities doubling every two weeks, the pandemic is headed for a peak by the end of July.

"We ask all people to come together in solidarity to forge a path forward -- free of discrimination and hate -- for our nation," said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson.

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.