While the United States has "come a long way" in addressing racism and injustice, much more remains to be accomplished to achieve the dream of "the beloved community" envisioned by the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said.

On our last day in Rome, our group of 25 young adults were reminded of the journey Christians have taken through history, dating back to the day Jesus died on the Cross.

President Donald Trump said Jan. 16 his administration is issuing nine proposed rules to ensure the nation's faith-based service providers and organizations are not discriminated against by federal agencies' regulations or in their grant-making processes because of religion.

A federal judge in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction Jan. 15 blocking the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order that would allow state and local government officials to reject resettling refugees in their jurisdictions.

After decades of anticipation, the Vatican archives are ready to welcome, starting March 2, scores of scholars wishing to study documents related to the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII.

Pope Francis named Francesca Di Giovanni, a longtime Vatican official, as an undersecretary in the Vatican's foreign ministry office, making her the first woman to hold a managerial position at the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Protecting human life is the "preeminent" social and political issue, Pope Francis said, and he asked the head of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Pro-Life Activities to convey his support to the pro-life community.

We were blessed to attend the weekly general audience with Pope Francis while on our ad limina pilgrimage with the bishop of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, and at the end of the audience we were able to take a picture with him.

"Our church needs leaders today who are willing to listen and learn, who are willing to be healed and to serve, who are willing to proclaim boldly what God has done for us," Archbishop Hebda said at Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.

President Donald Trump announced his administration's new guidance on prayer in public schools during a Jan. 16 event in the Oval Office on National Religious Freedom Day.