Check out these recent articles from around the web:

A Sermon on the Hill by John Carr: “Francis’ defense of families takes on both economic and moral pressures on family life, making ideologues on both left and right uncomfortable.”

New cardinal: Vatican should be ‘voice of the voiceless’ by Joshua McElwee: “One of the 20 Catholic prelates who will be named a cardinal by Pope Francis on Saturday has called for the Vatican to focus its energies towards speaking on behalf of suffering people around the world, saying it should be ‘the voice of the voiceless.’”

Life of Sr. Dorothy Stang celebrated at her California alma mater by Sharon Abercrombie: “Ten years after the murder of Notre Dame de Namur Sr. Dorothy Stang, her alma mater is honoring the beloved ‘angel of the Amazon’ with a week of special events marking her ongoing legacy of service in the mission field.”

Catholic lobbying crosses divides in pursuit of the common good by Michael Sean Winters: “As Washington settles in for more and more gridlock, and hyperpartisanship spreads out from the nation’s capital to the heartland, threatening the historically more congenial environs of state legislatures, one group of veteran political operatives remain deeply committed to making the government serve the common good. State Catholic conferences across the nation work in all-red and all-blue states and in states with divided governments, seeking to bring often divergent groups together in pursuit of the common good.”

Papal aide says without justice for the poor, violence is inevitable by Michael O’Loughlin: “Pope Francis isn’t a Marxist, but that shouldn’t diminish his calls for measures to make the economy work for everyone, especially the poor. That was the message from Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, one of the pope’s key confidantes and the head of the Council of Cardinals — known as the C9 — advising the pope, during a talk Thursday evening at Rome’s Augustinian College.”

Pennsylvania’s governor suspends the death penalty by Mark Berman: “Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday that he had suspended the death penalty until he reviews a report on capital punishment in the state. ‘This moratorium is in no way an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row, all of whom have been convicted of committing heinous crimes,’ Wolf said in a statement. ‘This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive.’”

Why Politics Still Matters by Michael Wear: “A culture more concerned with justice, virtue, and compassion, will absolutely have a positive impact on our politics. But it is no replacement for direct political engagement.”

Smoking’s Toll on Health Is Even Worse Than Previously Thought by Denise Grady: “A new study adds at least five diseases and 60,000 deaths a year to the toll taken by tobacco in the United States. Before the study, smoking was already blamed for nearly half a million deaths a year in this country from 21 diseases, including 12 types of cancer.”