Brian Fraga

Vital humanitarian activities that Jesuit Refugee Service leads in nine countries remain in jeopardy, JRS says, even after a judge's order to temporarily lift the Trump administration's freeze on foreign aid.

The international relief organization founded by U.S. bishops in 1943 is in crisis after sweeping foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration. The bishops' conference did not respond to a request to comment.

An internal email says CRS is likely to be cut in half this year from Trump's freeze of U.S. foreign assistance. Cuts will "cost people's lives and livelihoods," a former bishops' conference official says.

"In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, I offer my deepest sympathies to the families who are now mourning the loss of a loved one," the pope said.

Thomas C. Fox worked in Vietnam with the Associated Press photo editor who alleges the photo credit was switched for one of photojournalism's most iconic news photographs, "The Terror of War." AP has denied the claim.

A controversial new documentary film claims to have uncovered a scandal behind one of the most iconic wartime photographs of the 20th century.

Observers say progressive new archbishop of Washington is expected to speak out for immigrants, LGBTQ persons and the marginalized. "A very strong voice to counter the horrors," a college president predicts.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 20 that he would nominate Brian Burch as his next ambassador to the Holy See. Burch is president of the political advocacy group CatholicVote.org.

Nearly four years since Pope Francis changed canon law to allow women to be installed as lectors and acolytes, some dioceses are moving ahead with ceremonies to formally recognize women in those ministries.

The public dialogue, which was held Dec. 10, featured commentary focusing on how Catholic social principles such as solidarity, especially with marginalized immigrant communities, can chart a hopeful path forward in the coming months.

Luigi Mangione, who was arrested Dec. 9 in connection to the Dec. 4 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, hails from a Baltimore family that has contributed handsomely to local Catholic organizations.

A Brooklyn pastor, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, said he has been discredited and he will "speak out in justice" after he was relieved of parish duties by the Brooklyn Diocese.

Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello has been relieved of parish duties after an investigation uncovered evidence that he transferred nearly $2 million in parish funds to a businessman who was former chief of staff to embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Diocese announced Nov. 18.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development recently approved 93 grants totaling more than $2 million to dozens of organizations around the U.S. — a fraction of what the bishops' program has awarded in previous years.

Speaking Nov. 12 in his capacity as president of the U.S. bishops' conference at the bishops' fall plenary assembly, Archbishop Timothy Broglio said the Catholic Church in the U.S. will continue to stand by migrants who cross the border without legal documents.

The agenda for the Nov. 11-14 plenary session of the U.S. bishops does not call for a public discussion of the Nov. 5 election. But observers expect that the political fallout will hang over the proceedings.

Hundreds packed the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to witness the liturgy where Archbishop Richard Henning was installed as the 10th bishop of Boston, succeeding Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who had served as archbishop there since 2003.

In NCR's poll published Oct. 14, respondents ranked affordable housing as the fifth most important voter issue behind only the economy, immigration, health care and taxes. 

 As the 2024 election season winds down, Catholic votes from Pennsylvania, the largest of the battleground states, remain a tossup.

Describing himself as "a longtime supporter" of the Catholic Church, former President Donald Trump cast himself as a champion of religion in a short interview with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN.