Greeting visitors in St. Peter's Square after nearly a month of tight restrictions due to the pandemic, Pope Francis said he was happy to see people allowed to gather and be present for Sunday noonday prayer.
The head of the Irish bishops' conference said the government's move to criminalize attendance at Mass as part of COVID-19 regulations was a "potential infringement of religious freedom and of constitutional rights."
The chairman of the U.S. bishops' migration committee said April 19 he is disappointed that President Joe Biden announced he will not increase the 15,000 cap on the number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States for the current fiscal year.
Expressing sorrow for the loss of life in yet another mass shooting in the U.S., this time at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson prayed for the victims and their families.
The death penalty has been getting attention across the country this year with legislation introduced or voted on in several states aimed at limiting, repealing or even renewing capital punishment.
As closing arguments began April 19 in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, Archbishop Bernard Hebda and priests across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis offered special Masses for the Preservation of Peace and Justice.
Asking all priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to join him in offering a special Mass for the Preservation of Peace and Justice on April 19 — as the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin draws to a conclusion and tension continues surrounding the death of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center — Archbishop Bernard Hebda said he will celebrate his Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
The Catholic vision of social justice is rooted in building a society in which people love and take care of one another, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez said in his keynote address April 15 at Catholics at the Capitol in St. Paul.