National News
U.S. urged to be more vigorous in protecting religious freedom globally
"Religious persecution is festering and exploding around the world. What has been unconscionable for decades, centuries, has gotten worse," Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, said May 12 in remarks at the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians.
Reports say Callista Gingrich will be nominated as Vatican ambassador
UPDATED - The New York Times and CNN reported May 14 that the official announcement of the nomination is waiting to be approved by the Office of Government Ethics.
Texas bill to protect conscience of child services workers draws praise
The bill, written by Republican Rep. James Frank, allows organizations and individuals "with sincerely held religious beliefs to remove themselves from actions in direct violation of their faith."
Archdiocese launches website about U.S. priest who will be beatified
The stanleyrother.org website tells the story of the U.S. priest who worked in Guatemala for 14 years until he was murdered there in 1981.
Shelter to offer trafficking victims a safe haven, life and job skills
As testimony to the importance he places on what he calls modern "human slavery," the pope dispatched one of his top advisers, Bishop Marcelo Sanchez-Sorondo, to Baton Rouge for the dedication of Metanoia Manor, a one-of-a-kind shelter for young trafficking victims.
Priest at St. Charles Seminary named bishop for Atlanta
UPDATED - Pope Francis has appointed Father Bernard Shlesinger, a priest of the Diocese of Raleigh and spiritual director at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, to be an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
Family farmers facing worst financial stretch since the 1980s
After a relatively lengthy period of prosperity in the early part of this decade, prices for "row crops" -- corn, soybeans and wheat -- have slid to levels where farmers spend more to raise the crops than they'll get back in sales.
Anti-death penalty activist says she wrestled with issue and ‘God won’
Marietta Jaeger-Lane could have killed with her bare hands the man who kidnapped and murdered her daughter. Now she is a leader of the National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty, which launched May 11.
Bishops say ‘anti-sanctuary’ move will erode immigrants’ trust of police
The Catholic bishops of Texas said the state's move to prohibit cities and other jurisdictions from providing sanctuary to immigrants facing deportation "does not help peace officers build trust with the migrant community."
Haitians fear being forced to go home if special immigration status ends
Haitians in the U.S. since a devastating 2010 earthquake are urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to renew their Temporary Protected Status designation because conditions have not appreciably improved in their homeland.