Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, gave three reasons why religious freedom is important to the Catholic Church in a speech July 30 at a conference on the issue at the Justice Department in Washington.

U.S. bishops sent their immediate past president to Vietnam to see how they could help with the first college-level Catholic school approved in the Asian country in about 40 years.

In small and often intimate gestures, there are big lessons for bishops to learn as they exercise their ministry, said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, in his final address as president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.

“One of the benefits of being president is that you see a lot,” he said. “I’ve had a chance truly to see the richness … of the local churches. Whether I go to St. Cloud, Minnesota, or to Cincinnati, or to many different parts of our country, invited to be a part of their local church celebration, it gives me great insights into, not only the struggles … but also the great signs of hope.”

The U.S. bishops will concelebrate Mass at St. Peter Claver Church in Baltimore Nov. 14, the first day of their fall general assembly.

Too much of the political discourse during this election year “has demeaned women and marginalized people of faith,” the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Oct. 14.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — By officiating at a same-sex wedding, Vice President Joe Biden as a prominent Catholic politician has created confusion over church teaching on marriage […]

SALT LAKE CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of […]