Catholic leaders were thankful that death-row inmate Melissa Lucio was granted a last-minute stay of execution April 25, but they also said her sentence shows a failure in the use of capital punishment in this country and stressed that they would continue to pray for Lucio and her family and advocate on her behalf.
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A majority of Supreme Court justices seemed to side with a former high school football coach who said his postgame prayers on the field — which cost him his job — amounted to private speech and not the public school's endorsement of religion.
On April 21, Texas executed a 78-year-old inmate, Carl Buntion, by lethal injection shortly after the governor of Tennessee temporarily blocked the execution of a 72-year-old prisoner, Oscar Smith, citing issues with preparations of the lethal drugs to be used.
MILWAUKEE (CNS) -- Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki said the life and work of Project Rachel founder Vicki Thorn, who died unexpectedly April 20, stand "as a living testimony to an unwavering and unconditional defense of life at all stages, and to the mercy of God's love."
Taking steps to confront climate change and personally and professionally working for environmental justice "is at the very foundation of what our faith calls us to do," Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory said at an April 21 opening ceremony of a conference on "Climate Change and the Future of Work."
The head of the Manitoba Métis Federation said his group's meeting with Pope Francis was an emotional encounter centered on reconciliation between the Indigenous community and the Catholic Church.