Melissa Cedillo

A newly passed California state law, the Garment Worker Protection Act, moves to end paying workers by piece produced rather than by hourly wage. Piece-rate compensation can amount to as little as $5 an hour.

Among those watching the meeting of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore this week are Catholic members of Congress, many of whom have noted the months of heated debate over a controversial document on Communion that may address pro-choice Catholic politicians.

A hunger strike by five young climate activists outside the White House inspired the 24-hour All Saints' Day solidarity fast organized by Catholic Climate Covenant and the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

Paul Campion and four others in the Sunrise Movement have been on a hunger strike outside the White House since Oct. 20, demanding that Democrats deliver on the climate-related legislation currently before Congress.

About 36% of U.S. Catholics identify as Hispanic/Latino, but only about 3% of pastors and one in 10 lay leaders are Hispanic/Latino. The Latino Pastoral Leadership Initiative, which has named its second cohort, hopes to increase representation in church leadership and ministry.

Faith leaders gathered in prayer Sept. 23 to call on lawmakers to push for the $3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill, which they said advances racial equity, climate action, immigration, health care and an economy that works for all.

Immigration advocates are calling for an end to Title 42, a controversial Trump-era policy that expels people at the border without due process, allegedly in the name of public health. But the Biden administration continues to fight for the policy.

Current polls show Latinos — who make up 39% of California's population — are more likely to vote no on the recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom. But there is no data specifically targeting Latino Catholics' views.

"This is the work of Jesus Christ," San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy said at the Aug. 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the El Centro Homeless Day Center, a collaborative effort set to open before Thanksgiving.

At Dominican University's "¡El Futuro Is Here!" conference, participants shared their various Latino backgrounds, including citizenship, countries of origin, colors, language, class status and education level.

The Catholic faith provides hope for many farmworkers during exhaustive and demanding work. The church is also involved, through parishes and other institutions, working for justice and nourishing community for farmworkers.

Catholic activists and members of Congress who had pressured the White House to extend an eviction moratorium celebrated Aug. 3 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it had extended the eviction ban due to COVID-19.

A Dominican University conference called "¡El Futuro is Here!: Cuentos y Recuerdos for the Journey" will bring together campus ministers, university mission officers, student leaders and religious studies faculty to discuss ways to improve ministry to Latinx students.

"When loss of work forces migration, we must welcome them, protect them and share our abundance with them," Cardinal Wilton Gregory said at a D.C. event following a Senate hearing on immigrant farmworkers.

Fr. Juan Sosa says the community of St. Joseph in Miami Beach is reeling. The church is less than a mile from the Champlain Towers building that collapsed June 24, killing nearly 100 people, including parishioners.

The Center for Migration Studies hosted a webinar focused on how Catholic organizations serving immigrant communities in the U.S. adapted during Donald Trump's presidential administration and the beginning phases of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sports has the power to bring communities together, and the Copa América — the oldest national football competition, which has been bringing South American teams together since 1916 — connects Latinos in the United States too. 

The pandemic, combined with the racial reckoning of last summer, has young Catholics — and those who minister to them — thinking about what the church can learn from Generation Z.

Commentary: As a community that upholds the dignity of all humans, Catholics must confirm that we hear ICE detainees' cries of suffering, and demand that these vile places be defunded and shut down.

Commentary: As a Catholic voter, I am asked to draw on both faith and reason. Hearing Sen. Elizabeth Warren speak and reading her plans, I feel that she appeals to both my intellect and my conscience.