Kate Scanlon

Catholic leaders and local officials condemned Feb. 23 an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants and asylum-seekers at the Southern border, calling it an abuse of power and a violation of religious liberty.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law has raised complex legal questions about artificial reproductive practices opposed by the Catholic Church.

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak warns that failing to support Ukraine as Russia's war machine relentlessly presses its attack will have a vast impact on religious freedom in the region as well as on global security.

Congressional lawmakers appear to be at an impasse on immigration as a bipartisan border deal failed in the Senate and House Republicans failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Key Senate negotiators Feb. 4 released an approximately $118 billion emergency national security bill that would send a fresh wave of aid to Ukraine as that nation fends off Russia's invasion and would implement strict new migration policies for the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Supreme Court Jan. 24 rejected an appeal by death-row inmate Kenneth Smith, whose planned execution by the state of Alabama -- the first known execution by nitrogen gas -- was openly decried by more than 100 Alabama faith leaders just days earlier.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22 allowed Border Patrol agents to cut through or remove razor wire that Texas installed on a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the state's effort to prevent illegal border crossings.

As immigration shapes up to become a key election issue in 2024, the church must remain steadfast in its advocacy for migrants, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told OSV News.

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed an immigration bill into law Dec. 18 that makes it a state crime for unauthorized migrants to cross into Texas from Mexico. Catholic organizations including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops have opposed the legislation.

Lawmakers and exiled Nicaraguan nationals at a congressional hearing Nov. 30 called for the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a Catholic prelate imprisoned by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passed away Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, according to a statement from The Carter Center.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's anti-Catholic persecution is part of a broader trend of threats to democracy around the globe, experts on a Georgetown University panel said Nov. 14.

The Supreme Court appeared poised to uphold a federal law prohibiting those under domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms during Nov. 7 oral arguments in United States v. Rahimi, a case challenging the constitutionality of a federal ban on firearms possession by those under domestic violence restraining orders.

Ohio voters on Nov. 7 approved Issue 1, a measure that will codify abortion access in the state's constitution. The loss marks another electoral defeat for anti-abortion ballot measures in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin prevails in his invasion of Ukraine, religious freedom in the country would be curtailed, Ukrainian faith leaders said at a recent event at the United States Institute of Peace.

Catholic Charities USA, the organization dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States, responded Oct. 31 to "disturbing" recent remarks by a social media influencer threatening its staff.

Israel and Ukraine both face existential threats and deserve U.S. aid as they fend off conflict, President Joe Biden said in an Oval Office address to the nation on Oct. 19.

Despite Pope Francis' advocacy for caring for creation, U.S. Catholics are no more likely than other Americans to view climate change as "a serious problem," according to new data from the Pew Research Center.