National News

Pro-life advocates who made undercover videos charged with 15 felonies

UPDATED - California prosecutors March 28 charged David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt with felonies for filming 14 people without permission. One felony count was filed for each person and the 15th count was for criminal conspiracy to invade privacy.

U.S. Supreme Court examines pension plans of religious hospitals

The case hinges on interpretation of the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, which requires pension plans to be fully funded and insured. Congress amended that law in 1980 to carve out a narrow exemption for churches and other religious organizations.

Panel: Archives of religious orders tell history of U.S. church

Archives particularly show the roles women religious played in the country's education, hospitals, immigrant communities and social movements, they said, and yet there's a danger of losing some of that history as convents merge or close, and their historical materials are discarded, lost or scattered.

Archbishop: Belarusians devoted to Fatima, still struggle with secularism

People in Belarus -- a former Soviet republic -- have a great devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, and so does the archbishop who leads them.

Bishop concerned U.S. won’t meet carbon emission goals after Trump order

The executive order, signed March 28 at the Environmental Protection Agency, fails to offer a "sufficient plan for ensuring proper care for people and creation," Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice Florida, said in a statement March 29.

Supreme Court sends death-row IQ case back to lower courts

The U.S. Supreme Court said the inmate's intellectual disability should prevent his execution.

As in his life, all welcomed at Cardinal Keeler’s funeral Mass

Mourners from near and far, and all walks of life and various creeds, filled the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland March 28 for the funeral Mass of Cardinal William H. Keeler, 14th archbishop of Baltimore.

Vatican official praises Detroit Archdiocese for response to immigrants

Msgr. Figueiredo's visit to the Archdiocese of Detroit is the first of many he is taking around the world, meeting with local Catholic leaders about what support the Vatican can provide for refugees, which Msgr. Figueiredo said is one of the biggest issues in Pope Francis' pontificate.

Students’ project opens door to Vatican global water-awareness campaign

When the young women originally began their water-awareness campaign, christened the Blue Roots Project -- bluerootsproject.org -- no one expected it would take them to the Vatican.

Pay close attention to pope’s words and actions, papal nuncio says

Archbishop Christophe Pierre told the audience at a March 27 discussion at Georgetown University that it is not a question of whether the pope is good or bad or if one agrees with him or not. The issue, for Catholics, is to discern what the Holy Spirit is saying through the pope.