The seizure is part of a steady campaign by Russia to suppress the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, along with Catholicism in general and other faiths, in occupied areas of Ukraine.
At a ceremony to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom President Joe Biden said Jesuit Fr. Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, "changed countless lives" through his former gang member rehabilitation ministry.
Calls for fuller participation of women in church leadership have been heard throughout the multi-year synod process. Now, as the process has moved into its next phase, the call for expanded roles for women continues.
"This is a devastating loss to this community," Avondale Fire Battalion Chief Steve Mayhew said. "This church is a pillar of this community, so definitely a lot of heartbreak this morning."
Authorities have expanded an investigation of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans to include senior church officials suspected of shielding predatory priests for decades and failing to report their crimes to law enforcement.
Santos Alfaro Ayala was wrongfully imprisoned for almost three months under El Salvador's "state of exception," which has suspended due process rights for the government's fight against armed gangs. Alfaro and his community are rejoicing at his release.
If Israel invades Rafah, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed, nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians will have few or no safe places to go, said a Catholic Relief Services official who recently visited there.
"Issues related to racism are now being fiercely debated across the country, and many people of color are fearful that racism is getting worse," reads their statement.