Brian Fraga

A 15-page policy issued by the Diocese of Marquette asks pastors to deny baptism, Communion and confirmation to gay, transgender and nonbinary Catholics unless they have "repented." 

In the U.S., the early weeks of the diocesan phase of the synod on synodality so far reveal an uneven response to Pope Francis' vision of a more decentralized, listening and discerning church that "journeys together."

In two letters to New Ways Ministry this year, Pope Francis commended the group for its outreach to the LGBTQ community and referred to co-founder Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick as "a valiant woman" who had suffered much for her ministry.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone defends his decision not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, contradicting public health officials' medical advice and Pope Francis' calls for vaccinations as an act of love. Critics call his decision misinformed, selfish and dangerous.

"We can no longer take for granted that Christian values are the norm, and that's OK. We're not going back to repair this and figure out how we can have this empire again or whatever. It's about what God is calling us to do now."

After more than a year of intense debate on a document originally intended to target pro-choice Catholic politicians like President Biden, the U.S. bishops approved a milquetoast text summarizing teaching on Communion.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., told the bishops gathered in Baltimore that the church needs "attentive listening more than ever if she is to overcome the polarization facing this country."

The USCCB’s annual fall assembly includes elections for treasurer and several committee chairs for the organization. Some of the bishop candidates are known for prioritizing similar issues as Francis. Others have not been always known for emphasizing issues favored by the pope.

Several leading Catholic theologians, academics and activists have signed onto a petition calling on Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez to apologize for his Nov. 4 speech in which he denigrated social justice movements as "pseudo-religions."

In a Nov. 4 speech to a Catholic group in Spain, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez claimed that some modern social justice movements were Marxist-inspired, anti-Christian "pseudo-religions."

Hundreds will attend the U.S. bishops' fall general assembly in Baltimore, as COVID-19 continues to spread. Attendees will be required to wear masks, but a spokesperson declined to answer whether a vaccine mandate would be imposed.

Several of the more conservative U.S. Catholic bishops, some of them among Pope Francis' most persistent critics, took to social media Oct. 29 to express their disapproval of his meeting with President Biden at the Vatican.

The Archdiocese of Hartford's pastoral plan for New Haven, Connecticut, has angered parishioners, who are not pleased that Dominican priests have to vacate their historic priory, located next to St. Mary's Church, by Dec. 1.

Authorities said that the incident seen in a video on social media occurred during Mass at St. Frances Cabrini in Lakewood, Washington, less than two weeks after the parish obtained a no-trespass order against the man.

In 2020, Pope Francis declared that because of modern combat's brutality, it was now "very difficult" for countries to invoke the just war theory to pursue violent conflict. One year later, some U.S. military instructors say that Francis has adjusted church teaching in a real way.

A federal judge has sided with the far right-wing Catholic group Church Militant in its quest to overturn the city of Baltimore's cancellation of its planned protest during the U.S. bishops' meeting there this November.

The Rockville Centre Diocese's decision to remove Passionist Fr. Edward Beck from his posting at St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Montauk has led his religious order to end its association with the parish.

A federal court is set to hear arguments over whether the group Church Militant can stage a protest in Baltimore, with speakers Steve Bannon and Milo Yiannopoulos, during the U.S. bishops' meeting there in November.

With about three weeks before Catholic prelates worldwide open a first-of-its-kind consultation period for the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, many U.S. church officials are still figuring out exactly what that process will look like.

A U.S. bishops' conference memo alleges that an unspecified number of transgender men have been "unknowingly admitted" to diocesan seminaries and houses of formation for religious orders. Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki wrote that "luckily" none of those seminarians had been ordained.