Abortion advocates in at least 15 states are seeking to qualify ballot measures for November that would enshrine abortion protections in law or their state constitutions, and some efforts recently got a step closer. Maryland and Florida will have efforts to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitutions on the ballot. A comparable effort in New York was tossed off the ballot -- for now -- when it was blocked May 7 by a judge who found that state lawmakers failed to follow procedural rules for passing constitutional amendments. Supporters plan to appeal. Abortion is legal in the Emp ..read more

For us solitary types whose lives — like Mary’s — consist largely in “pondering these things in our hearts,” there is seldom room at the inn. The rest of the world, with its ceaseless activity, gear, heedless noise — all just as it should be — crowd us out, relegating us to some dingy corner where we huddle, fingers pressed to ears, desperately yearning for a moment of quiet where our discoveries and insights and love can give birth. My own mother, I would guess, in a household of eight kids, was always looking in vain for an inn. I came across her once, sitting on the edge of her and my fathe ..read more

A federal appeals court May 8 ruled in favor of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, protecting religious schools' freedom to hire schoolteachers who will uphold their religious beliefs. In Billard v. Diocese of Charlotte, a former substitute teacher sued Charlotte Catholic High School and the diocese for not calling him back to work as a substitute teacher after he entered a same-sex union and posted about it on Facebook. That contradicted Catholic teachings about marriage and violated the diocese's employment policy, disqualifying him to assist the school in fulfilling its mission, the ..read more

The thrill couldn't get any better -- or so Forrest Tucker thought. As a longtime welder for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as a talented sculptor, Tucker was honored to be asked to create a lasting tribute to the four race car drivers who have won the Indianapolis 500 four times. Beginning in 2019, Tucker has sculpted four bronze bricks in honor of A. J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr., Rick Mears and Hélio Castroneves, with their names and the years they won the race on the bricks, which have been placed among the Speedway's original red bricks at the start-finish line. "To do something in the racin ..read more

"The time has come for a new Jubilee when once more the Holy Door will be flung open to invite everyone to an intense experience of the love of God that awakens in hearts the sure hope of salvation in Christ," Pope Francis said in a document formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025. Christians must "abound in hope" to be credible witnesses of God's love, he wrote, and they can give signs of that hope by having children, welcoming migrants, visiting prisoners, working for peace, opposing the death penalty, helping young people find a job, pressuring rich countries to forgive the debt of poor cou ..read more

ROME — In the abstract, one might have thought the stars were aligned in March 2013 for an era of good feelings between the new leader of Roman Catholicism, Pope Francis, and the church outside the Western sphere, perhaps especially in Africa. After all, Francis is history’s first pope from the developing world, seeing himself as a tribune for the poor and excluded, including victims of both armed conflict and neocolonial exploitation. Africa probably is the continent on earth where those messages resonate the most deeply. There certainly have been moments when that potential seemed realized ..read more

More than 2,500 Catholic bishops, priests, women religious, academics, laypeople and Catholic groups have called for a cease-fire in Gaza in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. "We continue to plead for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and adherence to international law by all parties," they wrote, citing the calls of Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for a cease-fire in the region as well. They highlighted statistics that over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel's "military assault marked by ind ..read more

Initiation into the Catholic faith as an adult involves a yearslong process of discernment and formation leading up to one life-changing moment: baptism.  It’s a moment that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco believes should be expressed more “forcefully and convincingly.” So this year, at his cathedral’s Easter Vigil liturgy, he incorporated some rarely used elements of the rite of baptism that date back to the first centuries of Christianity.  In a phone interview, Cordileone explained the symbolism of the changes and shared his thoughts on what’s behind the apparent ..read more

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion group, and 11 crisis pregnancy centers May 6, accusing them of misleading and potentially causing harm to women by claiming that they can provide a treatment that reverses the effect of the abortion pill mifepristone. The groups named in the lawsuit preemptively sued James April 30, arguing her threatened suit violated their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Proponents say administering a dose of progesterone in an attempt to stop the effects of a medication abortion, a process sometimes call ..read more

A lawsuit filed by the State of Florida and on behalf of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) claims that new nondiscrimination regulations implemented by the Biden administration is unlawful overreach that will “fundamentally redefine the practice of medicine.” On May 6, the federal register officially published changes the Department of Health and Human Services made to the nondiscrimination provisions in the Affordable Care Act, known as Section 1557, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of discrimination on the basis of sex. In response, the State of Florida an ..read more