In the wake of the Supreme Court and the state of Alabama denying a Muslim inmate’s request to have an imam present at his execution, Catholic leaders have decried the move as “disturbing” and an affront to religious liberty.

When Tony Pastoors was 5 days old in 1987, his mother kneeled in a hospital chapel to pray his life would be spared, after he was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease, which attacks the colon. Now 31, Tony is vice president of football and business administration for the Los Angeles Rams football team.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), echoed Pope Francis’ call for a “new ecclesial season,” in response to the clergy sex abuse scandals, saying that one positive fruit of the present crisis could be a deeper embrace of the Second Vatican Council.

Two state attorneys general that have issued reports on the Catholic Church’s handling of clerical sexual abuse cases doubled-down on Monday, defending their efforts and saying the Church cannot be responsible for policing itself.

Although her work along the Texas-Mexico border has brought her fame and celebrity, Sister Norma Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, who is executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, shrugged that off as best she could Feb. 2 in Washington, D.C.

In a one-two punch in just over a week’s time, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made inflammatory comments viewed by many as defending infanticide, only days later to have an old yearbook photo surface of him in blackface next to another individual dressed in KKK robes.

Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge called on Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam Feb. 2 “to do what is best to restore the trust and confidence of the people in our leaders” after a racist photo from the governor’s 1984 medical school yearbook emerged a day earlier.