The budget bill passed by the House of Representatives to try to end the partial government shutdown includes a provision to repeal the “Mexico City Policy” that prohibits U.S. funding of foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Jan.7 that he would push to expand abortion rights in New York State as a central part of his political agenda for 2019.

Opus Dei, an influential Catholic organization, paid nearly a million dollars to settle a case against a woman accusing one of its most prominent priests of sexual misconduct in 2005.

After a swastika was found painted on the doors of the cathedral of the diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bishop Frank Caggiano blasted the “brazen and disgusting display of ant-Semitism,” adding that it is “morally abhorrent and an affront to our Catholic faith.”

With the release of his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis has brought ecological concerns to the forefront of Catholic social teaching — something that resonates with vegetarian Bishop Gerald Kicanas.

Justice is a word that creates so many emotions and reactions. Merriam Webster has named the noun its Word of the Year for 2018. The word saw a 74 percent spike on the company’s website from the previous year.

Both of these books feel necessary and needed. They also feel, through no fault of their own, of slightly of a different time, given how much the ground has shifted since their writing. Outreach to young adults is a challenge even in the best of times – and these are far from the best of times.

Nativity scenes on display at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Ga., feature a multitude of colors and sizes, reflect various cultures and are crafted from materials such as ceramics, shells, pewter, paper-mache, alabaster, corn husk and wax, to name a few.