Brian Fraga

Observers say progressive new archbishop of Washington is expected to speak out for immigrants, LGBTQ persons and the marginalized. "A very strong voice to counter the horrors," a college president predicts.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 20 that he would nominate Brian Burch as his next ambassador to the Holy See. Burch is president of the political advocacy group CatholicVote.org.

Nearly four years since Pope Francis changed canon law to allow women to be installed as lectors and acolytes, some dioceses are moving ahead with ceremonies to formally recognize women in those ministries.

The public dialogue, which was held Dec. 10, featured commentary focusing on how Catholic social principles such as solidarity, especially with marginalized immigrant communities, can chart a hopeful path forward in the coming months.

Luigi Mangione, who was arrested Dec. 9 in connection to the Dec. 4 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, hails from a Baltimore family that has contributed handsomely to local Catholic organizations.

A Brooklyn pastor, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, said he has been discredited and he will "speak out in justice" after he was relieved of parish duties by the Brooklyn Diocese.

Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello has been relieved of parish duties after an investigation uncovered evidence that he transferred nearly $2 million in parish funds to a businessman who was former chief of staff to embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Diocese announced Nov. 18.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development recently approved 93 grants totaling more than $2 million to dozens of organizations around the U.S. — a fraction of what the bishops' program has awarded in previous years.

Speaking Nov. 12 in his capacity as president of the U.S. bishops' conference at the bishops' fall plenary assembly, Archbishop Timothy Broglio said the Catholic Church in the U.S. will continue to stand by migrants who cross the border without legal documents.

The agenda for the Nov. 11-14 plenary session of the U.S. bishops does not call for a public discussion of the Nov. 5 election. But observers expect that the political fallout will hang over the proceedings.

Hundreds packed the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to witness the liturgy where Archbishop Richard Henning was installed as the 10th bishop of Boston, succeeding Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who had served as archbishop there since 2003.

In NCR's poll published Oct. 14, respondents ranked affordable housing as the fifth most important voter issue behind only the economy, immigration, health care and taxes. 

 As the 2024 election season winds down, Catholic votes from Pennsylvania, the largest of the battleground states, remain a tossup.

Describing himself as "a longtime supporter" of the Catholic Church, former President Donald Trump cast himself as a champion of religion in a short interview with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN.

The poll also finds that Black and Hispanic Catholics are more likely to identify racial justice and equality as important issues, to support abortion rights and describe themselves as allies of the LGBTQ movement.

After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School was unconstitutional, the school's attorneys are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in, claiming First Amendment rights.

"Behind all this there are people who simply hate my community," said Alejandro Bermúdez, a Peruvian Catholic journalist and combative conservative media influencer who was expelled from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae.

In a vice presidential debate marked by civility and focused on policy, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and U.S. Sen. JD Vance tussled on questions pertaining to immigration, abortion rights, foreign policy and the economy. 

Ahead of indictment, federal investigators issued a subpoena at a Brooklyn Catholic parish inquiring into Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello's business dealings with the mayor's former chief of staff. 

A series of ads running in swing states claim a vote for Kamala Harris is "a vote for medical experiments on kids." The campaign by the right-wing nonprofit CatholicVote has been criticized by LGBTQ advocacy groups.