Kate Scanlon

Voters in four states considered ballot measures related to abortion policy Nov. 3, with only one state rejecting a measure to expand access to the procedure, and the others approving proposals to codify a right to an abortion or rejecting further limits.

Undecided Catholic voters are a swing voting bloc, but reliably show up to the polls, a new report found. The report, conducted by Untold Research on behalf of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, found "Catholics are swing voters in the truest sense of the term."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit but filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs.

Key Catholic organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have urged Congress to reject recent Department of Justice guidance that they say weakens protections for people with disabilities. 

The Trump administration on Oct. 18 extended protections from deportation to people from Ukraine and Sudan, allowing them to continue living legally in the U.S. for now.

Catholic and evangelical leaders issued an ecumenical statement Oct. 13 as part of a joint effort to call for compassionate immigration reform.

President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 called off Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's plans to livestream the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan by firing squad in December.

President Donald Trump revived baseless claims surrounding Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, during an Oct. 12 campaign rally in the state. In remarks at his Youngstown rally, Trump appeared to allude to unfounded allegations he made in 2024 that Haitian migrants, who had legal authorization to be living and working there, were eating pets in Springfield. 

In the first case of its new term Oct. 5, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit from officials in Boulder, Colorado, against two major oil companies over climate change.

After a failed attempt to execute death row inmate Christa Gail Pike on Sept. 30, a number of faith leaders have called for her sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment.

A statement from the Department of Defense said it "is elevating spiritual readiness as a core element of combat effectiveness with the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs ..."

The high court has temporarily allowed the Trump administration to carry out removals to a country where a person who had migrated to the United States has no ties while a challenge to that policy continues.

After a man was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, Bishop Daniel Garcia denounced the shooting and called for "a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognizing the dignity of every person."

More than a dozen U.S. bishops met with members of Congress on Sept. 16 to urge lawmakers to enact effective safety guardrails on artificial intelligence and to advocate for the passage of a bill that aims to protect children online.

President Donald Trump's new appointees to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom include Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, the commission said Sept. 16. Spokespersons for USCRIF and other religious freedom advocates previously told OSV News they were eager for Trump to make nominations to the commission after several previous commissioners reached the end of their terms in May.

Detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" were held in outdoor cages about the same size as telephone booths, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.

Theologians and representatives of Catholic advocacy organizations and religious orders described pastoral challenges of some hardline immigration enforcement policies as among the concerns Catholics should consider.

"[T]the Church's objection  … is an effort to stop the State from compelling Catholic health care providers to violate their conscience," Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said in a statement.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, two orders of nuns, and a pharmacist sued Illinois Sept. 3 over the state's physician-assisted suicide law, which permits physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide.

Hundreds of faith leaders and organizations urged the Trump administration to extend Temporary Protected Status for El Salvador before it expires in September. A TPS designation grants the U.S. government the power to shield eligible migrants from deportation if they are from countries experiencing dangerous conditions such as war, disaster, or other unrest.