Catholic News Service

Stephen Schneck, a Catholic activist and retired professor, was appointed June 15 by President Joe Biden to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent federal watchdog group that monitors religious freedom violations.

In a further sign that he believes more care is needed in setting up diocesan religious orders, Pope Francis issued a decree requiring bishops to obtain written permission from the Vatican to start an "association of the faithful" as a first step toward forming a religious order.

Saying "superficial" marriage preparation programs leave many couples at risk of having invalid marriages or unprepared to cope with the struggles that arise in every marriage, Pope Francis endorsed suggestions for a yearlong "marriage catechumenate" drafted by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

Twenty countries from the Americas, including the United States, signed a declaration June 10, the last day of the troubled Summit of the Americas, committing to help and protect "all migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers, and stateless persons, regardless of their migratory status."

War produces tremendous poverty, and its violence strikes those who are defenseless and vulnerable, Pope Francis said. "In these situations, reason is darkened, and those who feel its effects are the countless ordinary people who end up being added to the already great numbers of those in need."

Canadian Fra' John Dunlap was sworn in the day after Pope Francis appointed him as the new leader of the Knights of Malta.

 Pope Francis has named a US Jesuit, Fr. Mark Lewis, to be the next rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

The Vatican's financial watchdog agency said that more financial transactions flagged as suspicious in 2021 than in the previous year was an indication that stringent policies aimed at transparency were working.

Arizona's Catholic bishops and other Catholic opponents of the death penalty spoke out against the recent executions of two Arizona death-row prisoners, following a nearly eight-year pause in executions in the state.

The 20th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' passage of the "Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People" is "not a time of celebration, but a time of continued vigilance and determination," said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Catholic leaders in an online discussion June 8 urged the faithful to look at gun violence as a pro-life issue, address the roots of racist thinking that promotes such violence and press for commonsense gun laws.

Catholic environmental activists participating in the Laudato Si' Movement in Africa matched their words with actions, mounting cleanup efforts and educational programs as part of the observance of World Environment Day.

"Wrinkles are a sign of experience, a sign of life, a sign of maturity, a sign of having made a journey. Do not touch them to become young," the pope said June 8 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Marking the 100th day of Russia's war against Ukraine, Pope Francis again called for international efforts to stop the aggression, respect human life and end "the macabre destruction of cities and villages" in the country.

Fra' Marco Luzzago, who led the Knights of Malta since late 2020, died at the age of 71, the order announced.

Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, remarked on the unique role deacons have in the Catholic Church in a statement issued June 2 with the results of an annual survey that provides a portrait of the permanent diaconate in the U.S.

Catholic leaders expressed disappointment with a June 6 ruling by a federal judge in Oklahoma calling the state's three-drug lethal injection method constitutional.

U.S. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, will chair the Vatican's new Investment Committee, the Vatican press office announced.

In response to the multiple mass shootings in recent weeks, the chairmen of four U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to "stop the massacres of innocent lives."

Sitting in a wheelchair in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis allowed himself to be grilled by a group of youngsters, including one who asked when he would go to Ukraine "to save all the children who are suffering there."