Analysis

Back in June, Kristan Hawkins, who heads Students for Life, got a firsthand look at how this presidential election differs from all others when she participated in Donald Trump’s outreach meeting with evangelicals, which had only a few Catholics present.

The pope is human. Pope Francis demonstrated that in Mexico, as he does wherever he goes, and most people find it attractive most of the time. In Pope Francis, Catholics can see a real person trying to live his faith in a complicated world.

Along with having a winning smile and a warm embrace, Pope Francis is known for challenging people.

The earth, which was created to support life and give praise to God, is crying out with pain because human activity is destroying it, Pope Francis says in his long-awaited encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”

Analyzing the ramifications of the June 26 same-sex marriage ruling for the Catholic Church at the national, state and local levels will take time, said Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore.

In the weeks since Pope Francis released his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Catholic commentators have been analyzing the document’s themes and messages. The following first appeared in the National Catholic Register (ncregister.com). It was written by the newspaper’s senior editor, Joan Frawley Desmond, and is reprinted with permission.