Mark Pattison

A small group of protesters critical of the U.S. bishops' efforts to enact reforms in their handling of sexual abuse cases gathered outside the Baltimore hotel where they conduct their general meeting.

The U.S. bishops approved a revised national directory on formation and ministry for permanent deacons June 12, the second day of their June 11-13 spring general assembly in Baltimore.

The U.S. bishops are scheduled to vote on a plan to implement the "motu proprio" "Vos Estis Lux Mundi" ("You are the light of the world") issued in May by Pope Francis to help the Catholic Church safeguard its members from abuse and hold its leaders accountable.

The U.S. bishops are set to vote on a 10-point statement, "Affirming Our Episcopal Commitments," in which the bishops hope to regain "the trust of the people of God."

The U.S. bishops are set to consider an updating of texts last changed in 2003 for the ordination of clergy.

The U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a measure that would enable bishops to apply restrictions in the life and ministry of retired bishops accused of sexual abuse or who failed to take necessary measures to prevent abuse.

Recalling "dissent'" last November over the Vatican's request that the bishops postpone voting on agenda items related to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, Archbishop Christophe Pierre reminded them that "unity prevails over conflict."

Many people might not have noticed that Anna Gallagher took over Feb. 1 as executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, known as CLINIC. If they hadn't, they certainly would have March 8, when she called a Department of Homeland Security decision to not redesignate Temporary Protected Status for those fleeing war- and corruption-scarred South Sudan "morally reprehensible."

The need to seek justice and reconciliation has become one of the more intriguing concepts not only with personal dealings but on the world stage as well.

Racism can be ended in the United States, but the past has to be confronted first for that to happen, said a participant in a panel discussion on racism Feb. 3 as part of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering.

The nation's immigrant population continues to leave a mark in their chosen corners of the United States, just as generations of immigrants before them have.

Should the Vatican permit the ordination of women as deacons — a topic that has been studied by a papal commission — a majority of U.S. bishops surveyed said they would expect the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to pave the way to implement it.

The two Supreme Court cases that legalized abortion virtually on demand in the United States were based on "deception," said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas.

Didn't get everything you wanted for Christmas? Neither did several Catholic organizations, despite the last-minute flurry of legislation typical of a lame-duck Congress.

Year in review: Hurricane, fire, flood and even earthquake, Catholic Charities agencies did their best to help thousands of their fellow residents through some of the worst natural disasters they had ever encountered.

The farm bill that passed both houses of Congress by wide margins doesn't have money in it to protect endangered species, but it did preserve one that had been on the threatened list: bipartisanship.

The revelation in late November that a Chinese researcher had edited genes in human embryos and then implanted them in a woman was "a train wreck of a thing to do," said an ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' 2019 budget, approved Nov. 14 by a 223-12 vote with six abstentions, reflects increased expenses related to the new clergy sex abuse crisis, according to the conference treasurer.

The U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a pastoral letter against racism Nov. 14 during their fall general meeting at Baltimore.

"Despite many promising strides made in our country, the ugly cancer of racism still infects our nation," the U.S. bishops say in a proposed pastoral letter on racism.