Despite the “uphill battle” families face, Hebda encourages them: “Dear families, please take heart.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis released a pastoral letter to families on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the 10th anniversary of his installation as archbishop.

Titled “Only One Thing Is Necessary: How Catholic Families Can Strive To Be United in This Life and the Next”, the letter emphasizes that strong Catholic families are essential to the future of both the Church and society.

The archbishop says he wrote the letter in response to parents who desire the Church’s help in raising faithful families. Drawing from more than three decades of ministry, he…

"There are conflicts and issues in the world that cannot be solved diplomatically, no matter how hard you try," Rubio said.

In a May 13 interview on Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reflected on his May 7 meeting with Pope Leo XIV, emphasizing the different vantage points and distinct roles of the Church and a nation-state.

In the interview, Rubio acknowledged the Catholic Church’s longstanding position advocating for peace and the avoidance of war while drawing a clear distinction between the Church’s role and the duties and responsibilities of nation states.

While saying the U.S. also seeks peace, Rubio affirmed that the countryʼs position on war is “different,” because it is “a nation state.”

“For a nation state, which is…

Mail-order abortions will continue in the U.S. after the nation's Supreme Court restored telehealth access to the abortion drug mifepristone.

The U.S. Supreme Court will allow abortion by mail to continue to be available in the U.S.

The Supreme Court on May 14 blocked a lower court ruling that would have required in-person dispensation of mifepristone. Chemical abortions, which rely on mifepristone and misoprostol, are the most common form of abortion in the U.S., making up at least 63% of abortions in the U.S. according to the Guttmacher Institute.

A New Orleans federal appeals court had restricted the mail-order prescriptions, ruling that these undermined Louisiana state law. The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay on enforcement of this ruling amid…

Catholic Charities USA said the lack of federal data on the number of homeless people hampers its ability to assess needs and advocate for essential resources.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner faced scrutiny from Democratic senators over the agency’s failure to release legally required counts of homeless people, a lapse Catholic Charities USA says undermines efforts to address rising homelessness.

Turner testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development on May 14 about proposed decreases in HUD’s budget from $84.2 billion to $73.5 billion for fiscal 2027.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, pressed Turner about the overdue 2025 Annual Homeless Assessment Report and the Point‑in‑Time Count, both of which provide yearly data on people experiencing homelessness and help lawmakers track trends…

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami said the U.S. aid offer would require the Cuban government to undergo regime change but “the government doesn't seem to be willing to do that yet.

The U.S. State Department reiterated an offer of $100 million in aid for Cuba to be distributed by the Catholic Church and other humanitarian organizations.

In a May 13 statement, the State Department said the United States “continues to seek meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system, which has only served to enrich the elites and condemn the Cuban people to poverty.”

According to the statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. also made numerous private offers to provide assistance to the Cuban people, including support for free satellite internet and $100 million in direct humanitarian assistance.

“The regime refuses to…

According to Pew's research, 65% of Catholics reported they have a positive view of religion, 12% have a negative view, and 22% have a neutral or unclear view.

A Pew Research Center survey found a growing minority of U.S. adults believe religion is gaining influence in American life, and more than half of adults have a positive view of religion.

The May 14 report found that 61% of U.S. adults said religion is losing influence in American life. In contrast, 37% said it is gaining influence, a figure that has risen 19 percentage points in the past two years.

The data in the report, “How Americans Feel About Religion’s Influence in Government and Public Life,” was based on Pew’s survey conducted April 6–12 that included more than 3,500 U.S.

The celebration of the Ascension is an annual opportunity for us to focus on the implications Jesus’ return to the Father means for each of his followers.

Christ’s ascension is meant to help us to grow to full stature in Christ as we respond to his confidence in making us his missionaries, together with the Holy Spirit, to renew the face of the earth.

The celebration of the solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is an annual opportunity for us not only to focus on heaven, where the Lord Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:1-6) and on the joy that “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor the human heart conceived,” which “God has prepared for those who love him”…

The Holy Father's well-educated mom was a devout Catholic, librarian, and accomplished singer of sacred music.

Learning about the life of Mildred Martínez, the mother of Robert Prevost, allows one to better understand the family environment that helped inspire the vocation of the man who is now Pope Leo XIV.

In his book “De Roberto a León” (“From Robert to Leo”) published by Editorial Mensajero, Armando Lovera, a native of Iquitos, Peru, provides data and insights that illuminate the maternal influence in the life of the pope.

1. Two of Mildredʼs sisters embraced religious life.

A testament to the importance of the Catholic faith in Mildred’s family is that two of her sisters, Louise and Hilda, decided to…