Kate Scanlon

Mercy Sr. Mary Haddad, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, called the legislation a moral failure, citing its cuts to safety-net programs like Medicaid and SNAP.

 In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said President Trump's effort is an attempt to  rewrite the long-standing legal interpretation of the practice.

The contrast reflected the sharp ideological division in the U.S. bishops conference over prioritizing opposition to abortion versus highlighting severe cuts to safety net programs included in the president’s plan. 

A group of Orthodox churches filed a federal lawsuit over a new law in Washington state requiring clergy to report child abuse or neglect without exceptions for clergy-penitent privilege that is also being challenged by that state's Catholic bishops.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 18 upheld a Tennessee state law banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

If Donald Trump succeeds in ending the policy, "It would be like stealing his future, the future that we came to the United States to seek."

The Washington State Catholic Conference previously supported a version of the legislation to make clergy mandatory reporters that did include an exception.

Pope Leo may bring unique insight to the problem of polarization in the U.S. and in the U.S. church, analysts say.

In July, a state judge denied the effort to shut down the nonprofit, arguing the state's case violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, among other issues. 

An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office said the tax provisions in the House version would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over a decade, 

In a letter to mark the 10th anniversary of the late Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si', U.S. bishops have urged young people to "lead the way" on the climate crisis.

Catholic Relief Services said May 21 that most of its projects under a federal international food aid program were terminated, leaving hundreds of thousands of children more vulnerable to hunger.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance met Louis and Deborah Prevost at the White House on May 20. Louis Prevost, the older brother of Pope Leo XIV, has described himself as a "MAGA type."

Catholic immigration advocates said they were "disturbed" by a Supreme Court order allowing the Trump administration to end legal protections from deportation for about 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants. The Venezuelans, a typically Catholic population, were permitted to remain in the United States without risk of deportation due to dangerous conditions in their homeland.

Planned Parenthood's latest annual report shows an increase in abortions from the previous year's report, while also showing a $100 million increase in government funding amid an overall decrease in cancer screenings and prevention services.

Critics have expressed concern that the new law makes no exception for clergy-penitent privilege. 

As President Donald Trump reached the 100th day of his second term April 29, polls showed decreases in his approval ratings on job performance and key issues, including among Catholics overall.

Legislation that would require clergy to report child abuse or neglect in Washington state was recently approved by the Legislature and has been sent to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson for his signature.

Catholic leaders and public officials condemned violence and called for peace after an alleged arson attack on the Pennsylvania governor's mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In a statement, Bishop Timothy Senior of Harrisburg called the attack a "heinous act" that "struck at the very heart of our shared values as a society."

The Supreme Court issued a ruling April 7 allowing the Trump administration to continue to deport migrants accused of gang membership using a wartime powers law for now, overturning a lower court that had paused such deportations.