Catholic News Service

Pope Francis asked members of the United Nations how they think they can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and build a more peaceful, more just world when many of their countries spend billions on military weapons and when their treatment of the unborn, of refugees and of women shows so little respect for human life.

Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh told Catholics in the diocese in a preelection message that he cannot tell them whom to vote for on Election Day.

The social unrest and divisions in general Hong Kong society have carried over to the Catholic community, said Cardinal John Tong Hon, who encouraged Catholics instead to follow what Jesus taught in the beatitudes.

Just hours before the sixth federal execution took place this year, and two days before the next one was scheduled, two U.S. bishops' committee chairmen called on the government to end this practice.

1.4 million refugees in Uganda are facing hunger because of aid disruption, loss of income and rising food prices linked to the COVID-19 crisis. The U.N. Refugee Agency warns that unless urgent action is taken to address the situation, levels of acute malnutrition, stunting and anemia are expected to rise, especially among children.

The world will not overcome the current crisis if only big businesses, financial institutions and the powerful have a voice, Pope Francis said.

The Santa Fe Archdiocese's Office of Social Justice and Respect Life called on National Catholic Prayer Breakfast officials to withdraw its plans to honor U.S. Attorney General William Barr with a special award at its Sept. 23 event because he is a Catholic who supports the death penalty.

The judges are Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appellate court judge in Chicago, and Barbara Lagoa, a federal appeals court judge in Atlanta.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met online and, for those who could, in Rome for their plenary assembly Sept. 16-18.

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square during his Angelus address Sept. 20, the pope said that just as God "calls everyone and calls always," the church must also "offer everyone the word of salvation that Jesus came to bring."

U.S. organizations that work to resettle refugees fear that an upcoming battle with the Trump administration over the number of displaced people allowed into the country may be the fiercest yet.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 at age 87, is remembered for her pioneering work for gender equality and for writing pointed dissents and asking tough questions.

It was a day to thank God for sending more laborers to gather his harvest, Diocese of Charlotte leaders said as they blessed and formally opened St. Joseph College Seminary.

The National Black Sisters' Conference issued a "clarion warning" to U.S. Catholics saying church members and leaders have not done enough to speak out against the sin of racism.

The director of Greece's Catholic charitable organization said the situation on Lesbos island remains tense after a fire at a refugee camp left at least 12,000 homeless.

Euthanasia legislation is headed for the Spanish Senate and, if passed, it would be a defeat for human dignity and would affirm a self-centered view of life that proposes death as a solution to one's problems, the Spanish bishops' conference said.

Catholic bishops and diocesan tribunals are making steady progress in implementing Pope Francis' reforms to make the annulment process quicker, but it is taking longer to achieve the pope's goal of making the process less expensive for couples.

Support for President Donald Trump and presidential nominee Joe Biden from voters who identify as religious appears to adhere to earlier patterns, a Pew researcher told a Georgetown University panel Sept. 15.

Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki warned that the Synodal Path reform project could lead to a "German national church."

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Sept. 16 that it will hear oral arguments in October cases via teleconference out of precaution during the coronavirus pandemic. Live audio feed will be provided to media, which will stream it to the public.