Latest Roman Catholicism News
Clarence Thomas criticizes judges for veering into politics
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Thursday criticized some in the judiciary for veering into the role of legislators and politicians, saying it is not the role of judges to make policy or to base decisions on their personal feelings or religious beliefs. ...
NY governor vows to fight lawsuit over vaccine mandate
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vowed this week to fight a lawsuit launched by a group of Christian health care practitioners who argue that New York’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for many health care workers is unconstitutional because it lacks a religious exemption. ...
Lawsuit: Defrocked Cardinal McCarrick abused man in 1980s
Three sex abuse lawsuits filed against a New Jersey diocese and announced Thursday include claims that defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused a young man in the 1980s. The lawsuit accuses McCarrick of sexual battery against the man, who was in his late teens and...
Chicago-area priest back under scrutiny for possible abuse
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago priest cleared last week of of allegations he sexually abused children 25 years ago is back under scrutiny because new information has become available, Cardinal Blase Cupich said Thursday. Cupich wrote a letter to parishioners of St....
Catholic orphanage's ex-residents ask church to fund therapy
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Some of the residents of a long-closed Vermont orphanage want the Catholic Church to pay for therapy as they continue to recover from what they described as abuse at the hands of the nuns and priests who were supposed to care for them. The...
As COVID-19 vaccine mandates rise, religious exemptions grow
An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar exemptions. And in Arkansas, a hospital has been swamped...
Some abortion foes question tactical wisdom of new Texas ban
The new Texas law that bans most abortions in the state has been welcomed by many of the religious leaders who help bolster the anti-abortion movement. Yet some abortion opponents in U.S. religious circles are wary of the law and questioning the movement’s current direction. ...
Largest US Catholic parish rises in California's interior
VISALIA, Calif. (RNS) — It’s billed as the largest Catholic parish in the United States and it’s being constructed about 200 miles north of Los Angeles, in what’s often referred to “as the heart of California’s dairy industry.” With an estimated $18.5...
Pope rejects German archbishop's resignation over abuse
BERLIN (AP) — Pope Francis has rejected the resignation of the archbishop of Hamburg, who offered to step down in March after a report faulted him for his handling of sexual abuse allegations in his previous diocese. The papal nuncio's office in Berlin said in a...
Pope: No place for politics in Biden Communion flap
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Wednesday that Catholic bishops must minister with “compassion and tenderness,” not condemnation, to politicians who support abortion rights and warned that clerics shouldn’t let politics enter into questions about receiving Communion. ...
