Peter Feuerherd

After a South Carolina pastor refused the Eucharist to former Vice President Joe Biden, the incident was reported in the mainstream media and commented upon exhaustively on Catholic social media.

The third year of studies compiled by Voice of the Faithful showed improvements in some dioceses. The numbers, said the chair of the organization's Finance Working Group, "do tell stories."

Don't count on the bishops to clean up sex abuse in the church, Anne Burke told the annual gathering of Voice of the Faithful, Oct. 19 in Newton, Massachusetts.

Fr. Christopher Senk's case has played out amid distrust of the church hierarchy and, conversely, the response of bishops sensitive to criticism of failure to act against lapses by clergy in the past.

Archbishop Charles Chaput has already presented his resignation notice to the pope, following church law as he turns 75 Sept. 26. Philadelphia Catholics spoke about Chaput's eight-year tenure, which will soon end.

The Field Hospital: A church open to LGBT people to follow; taking an abuser's name off a parish hall; the fallout of the immigration raids in Mississippi and the pastor who is helping affected families; Latinos v. Democrats on party's abortion rights platform

The Field Hospital: Catholic parishes help migrant families after large-scale ICE raids in Mississippi; changes by new pastor from Africa divide a parish; Chattanooga parish remembers when it wasn’t easy being black or Catholic in the South. 

For church workers who feel that they have been treated unfairly, a legal doctrine known as the ministerial exception offers their employers a legal way out of liability. 

The Field Hospital: Efforts to evangelize include Alpha in British Columbia and the Mass Mob in Buffalo; parishes face pressing financial needs in Chicago; tackling poverty in Portland.

NCR Connections: Lay involvement is an important distinction. Our work is in the world. The going forth from Mass is the beginning of our work, not the end.

The Field Hospital: Twin parishes team up across US-Canada border to raise funds for church restoration; A New Jersey diocesan delegation visits the border in Texas. The famous Crystal Cathedral is now the Christ Cathedral. 

The Vatican has announced sanctions against Bishop Michael J. Bransfield — including a prohibition from public celebration of Mass — after an investigation found him guilty of financial crimes and sexual harassment.

Archbishop William Lori announced July 17 that the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston will undergo an independent financial audit. The move was a response to the "Not a Dime for the Diocese" campaign, led by Lay Catholic Voices for Change, which urged Catholics not to donate to diocesan causes this weekend.

The Field Hospital: Emerging ethnic patterns; the art of chant; Buffalo's lay Catholics respond to sex abuse crisis; the Matthew 25 award goes to Maine

Catholic activists from Uganda, Mexico and the Philippines described the impact the church has on LGBTQ rights, such as a total roadblock in Uganda, to signs of hope south of the U.S. border.

The Field Hospital: Utah parish supports suicide prevention; arson in Florida; debate in New York as four parishes are merging; Catholic Charities aids flood-affected in Mid-Missouri

The Field Hospital: At St. Malachy in the city and at suburban St. Thomas of Villanova, parishioners are pulling together to talk about sex abuse and the cover-up and to push for reform.

The fallout from the sex abuse crisis is still the top priority at the U.S. bishops' spring assembly, while a question for the future arises: How to win back millennial nones?

The Field Hospital: Catholic parishes are being asked to break down borders; Colorado ski towns transform with the seasons; exponential growth in eastern Tennessee

While Bishop Michael Bransfield led the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, it's the details of high living that spring out from an investigative report, details of which were published by The Washington Post June 5.