National News
State court halts firing-squad execution with temporary stay
South Carolina death-row inmate Richard Moore chose death by firing squad over electrocution but described both methods as unconstitutional.
NCEA speaker addresses impact of social media on adolescents
Online pornography and algorithms that encourage comparison envy by children and teens have created new emotional challenges that can harm the brain, said a speaker at a Catholic teachers' convention.
Vatican officials in U.S study alleged miracles in Father Tolton’s cause
Besides two possible miracles in 2016, "about 50 some testimonials of people from all over the country testifying to favors from God through (Father) Tolton's intercession" are being investigated now, said Bishop Joseph Perry.
Knights say their evangelization program ‘desperately’ needed in church
The Knights of Columbus' training program draws on the model used by FOCUS at college campuses. Its three steps -- "Win," "Build" and "Send" -- have the goal "to stop this outflow of people ... who no longer see God as an important part" of their life.
Mass aboard cargo ship brings joy to crew longing for liturgy
Bishop William E. Koenig of Wilmington, Delaware boarded a freighter on the Delaware coast April 5 to celebrate Mass for a crew of Filipino men who, at sea for months and without shore passes, aren't able to attend Mass.
Maryland lawmakers override governor’s veto of expansive abortion bill
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Catholic, said the bill that he vetoed "endangers the health and lives of women by allowing nonphysicians to perform abortions." On April 9, Maryland's legislature overrode his veto of a day earlier.
As Colorado expands abortion, Oklahoma lawmakers OK near-total ban
The two states represent many that have either enacted more permissive or restrictive measures in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on a Mississippi case that, if upheld, would return the abortion issue to the states.
Senate confirms Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court
Just as the U.S. Senate was divided in a 53-47 vote April 7, advocacy groups also had a mixed reaction of pride and concern over the confirmation of Brown as the first Black woman justice on the high court.
Long Island Catholic school sees first-class relic of Blessed Acutis
An archbishop from Assisi, Italy brought the relic of the Italian teen and urged 2,400 students at the school not to waste life but rather to make of it a masterpiece, as Carlo Acutis did before he died in 2006 at age 15.
U.S. nun, 83, kidnapped in Burkina Faso
At least 10 armed men ransacked a convent and abducted one of the five women there, including Sister Suellen Tennyson, a native of New Orleans. The reason, said the head of the Marianite sisters, was "because she's American."