via the White House: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad. USCIRF uses international standards to monitor religious freedom… Read More Catholic Leader Stephen Schneck Appointed to United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

via Reuters: Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in southwest Nigeria during mass on Sunday, killing at least 50 people including women and children, according to a hospital doctor and media reports. The gunmen shot at people outside and inside the church building, killing and injuries worshippers, said Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, police spokesperson for Ondo state.… Read More Dozens Killed in Pentecost Attack on Nigerian Church

Christopher White writes: Pope Francis on May 29 named 16 new cardinal electors, including Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego, California, along with three Vatican officials and a number of bishops from the global south… McElroy, 68, will become the seventh residential U.S. cardinal under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in… Read More The Next US Cardinal: Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego

via the Washington Post: Eighteen children and three adults were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary, Texas Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) said Tuesday on CNN. He said he learned of the higher death toll from a briefing with the Texas Rangers. Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old Uvalde resident, “shot and killed — horrifically, incomprehensibly” more… Read More 21 Killed in Latest School Shooting

via AFL-CIO: For decades, legendary “labor priest” Monsignor George Higgins was a living link between the American labor movement and the Catholic Church. Monsignor Higgins passed away 20 years ago this May 1. To commemorate the occasion…the AFL-CIO and the Catholic Labor Network are co-sponsoring a panel discussion, hosted by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, on… Read More The Labor Movement and the Catholic Church, Then and Now

At NCR, Thomas Bremer, Regina Elsner, Massimo Faggioli, and Kristina Stoeckl write: If the Vatican wants to end the manipulation of its position by the Moscow Patriarchate, the people in charge should first of all recognize that this manipulation is happening and that the Vatican’s policy of balancing out leads to manipulations from the Russian… Read More How Pope Francis Can Fix His Broken Approach to Ukraine