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Voices
Michael J. O’Loughlin is national correspondent at America and author of Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.
People take photos on smartphones as Pope Francis greets the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Oct. 12. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 
FaithDispatches
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Stop trolling, resist gossiping and consider putting down your device altogether.
Faith
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Many described technology as something of a necessary evil.
Central American migrants gather before continuing their journey on March 31 in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. (CNS photo/Jose Jesus Cortes, Reuters)
Politics & SocietyNews
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Bishops call the policy dangerous and unwise and urge the administration to be more welcoming to migrants trying to enter the United States.
Cardinal Blase Cupich and young members of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Chicago spoke out against gun violence during a Good Friday peace walk on March 30. (Photo: Archdiocese of Chicago.)
FaithDispatches
Michael J. O’Loughlin
The Good Friday march in Chicago included re-enactments of the Last Supper and Crucifixion, along with a call to action to prevent gun violence.
Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta said a legislative proposal called the Hidden Predator Act, or H.B. 605, is unfair to the Catholic Church and would be catastrophic to the church's mission. Georgia lawmakers are considering waiving the statutes of limitations for filing civil lawsuits over abuse of young people against nonprofits and businesses, but not government agencies or public schools. (CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion)
Politics & SocietyNews
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Catholic leaders say they support abolishing time limits for criminal prosecution and expanding background checks for people who work with children. But they also point to an existing law that protects public institutions from “look back” lawsuits and say that it creates a double standard.
Retired New York Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh distributes Communion during a Mass on the March 17 feast of St. Patrick, patron of the Archdiocese of New York, at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
FaithNews
Michael J. O’Loughlin
“It is clear that what matters to Pope Francis is the transformation of individuals and communities through their attentive and communal participation in the sacramental mysteries."
The challenge of finding families for homeless youth and for those in group shelters is creating the latest flashpoint over competing civil rights claims. (iStock/bodnarchuk)
FaithDispatches
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Catholic Social Services refuses to place foster children in homes headed by same-sex couples; the city of Philadelphia says this policy violates a nondiscrimination law.
The question of whether students at Catholic high schools should be cut off from programs that benefit other students is being debated in Vermont and across the nation. (Images: iStock, Wikimedia Commons; Composite: America)
Politics & SocietyDispatches
Michael J. O’Loughlin
While the vast majority of Vermont students are eligible for the vouchers, which pay the full cost of up to two college classes, students who attend religious and other private schools are not.
 03.05.2018 Pope Francis greets people during an audience with Italian nurses in Paul VI hall at the Vatican March 3. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
FaithDispatches
Michael J. O’Loughlin
According to a new Pew Research Center poll, 84 percent of U.S. Catholics hold a “favorable” view of Pope Francis.
German Cardinal Walter Kasper, retired president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, arrives for the concluding session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican in October 2014. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) 
FaithNews
Michael J. O’Loughlin
Cardinal Kasper rejected claims from some Catholics who accuse Pope Francis of undermining church teaching on marriage.