Carol Zimmermann

Just hours before the sixth federal execution took place this year, and two days before the next one was scheduled, two U.S. bishops' committee chairmen called on the government to end this practice.

The judges are Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appellate court judge in Chicago, and Barbara Lagoa, a federal appeals court judge in Atlanta.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18 at age 87, is remembered for her pioneering work for gender equality and for writing pointed dissents and asking tough questions.

The National Black Sisters' Conference issued a "clarion warning" to U.S. Catholics saying church members and leaders have not done enough to speak out against the sin of racism.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Sept. 16 that it will hear oral arguments in October cases via teleconference out of precaution during the coronavirus pandemic. Live audio feed will be provided to media, which will stream it to the public.

A panel of federal judges said President Donald Trump acted unlawfully with his order this summer to exclude immigrants without legal documentation from being counted in the 2020 census for the redrawing of congressional districts.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Fr. Michel J. Mulloy after an allegation of sexual abuse was raised against him from the 1980s when he was a priest in South Dakota.

Catholic leaders joined their voices with members of the Navajo Nation in opposition to the Aug. 26 execution of Lezmond Mitchell, the only Native American on federal death row.

As part of what seems to be a new trend for the Supreme Court, it will once again take up a religious liberty case in its new term with oral arguments Nov. 4 in a case about a Catholic social service agency excluded from Philadelphia's foster care program for not accepting same-sex couples as foster parents.

The University of Notre Dame announced Aug. 18 that it is suspending its in-person classes for undergraduates for two weeks after a rise in COVID-19 cases on its campus in South Bend, Indiana.

In a 5-4 vote July 31, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for construction to continue on portions of the Trump administration's border wall with Mexico by declining to take up requests from environmental groups to stop the work.

Faith leaders and immigrant advocates have denounced the Trump administration's plan to reject first-time applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, and limit DACA renewals to one-year extensions instead of two.

Democratic leaders and immigrant advocates are criticizing President Donald Trump's July 21 memorandum to prevent immigrants without legal documentation from being counted in the 2020 census for the redrawing of congressional districts.

In a 5-4 decision July 24, the Supreme Court upheld Nevada's limits on congregation sizes, denying a request by a Nevada church for permission to have larger gatherings that are currently permitted in the state's casinos, restaurants and other businesses.

The Washington Post reached a settlement July 24 with the family of Nicholas Sandmann, the Kentucky Catholic high school student who sued the newspaper last year for defamation over its coverage of an incident that occurred after last year's March for Life that quickly went viral.

Prior to the July 17 execution of Dustin Honken, a 52-year-old man from Iowa, Catholic leaders, including the bishops of Iowa, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, and the Benedictine priest who had been Honken's spiritual adviser for 10 years, pleaded for a lesser sentence or at least a delay.

After the Supreme Court cleared the way for the second federal execution in a week, 68-year-old Wesley Purkey was killed by lethal injection at the penitentiary July 16 in Terre Haute, Indiana.

In a 2 a.m. decision July 14 after numerous last-minute filings, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to overturn a trial court order blocking the execution of federal death-row inmate Daniel Lewis Lee.

U.S. Catholic college and university leaders have joined the nation's higher education community in condemning a new policy announced by the Trump administration that would prevent international students from remaining in or coming to the United States if their colleges use a completely online format in the fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a 7-2 ruling July 8, the Supreme Court said the California Catholic schools sued for job discrimination for firing teachers had acted within their rights in the recent firings.