Nation/World

Pope Francis said the divisions within Christianity are “painful lacerations on the body of Christ, which is the church.”

The announcement of a new conscience protection rule May 2 protecting health care workers who object to abortion procedures on religious grounds was welcome news to U.S. Catholic bishops and the president of the Catholic Health Association.

Leaders from the Pontifical Mission Societies spent a day of their national meeting bending the ear of members of Congress, urging action on climate change, the protection of immigrants and religious freedom.

Church leaders across Asia have expressed alarm over threats to press freedom amid reports of increasing attacks and intimidation of journalists, resulting in growing levels of self-censorship.

The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s call to address the political and humanitarian crisis in Cameroon drew about 100 people to a town hall meeting and more than 1,000 viewers online.

Addressing participants of a two-day conference at the Vatican May 3, the pope said that like all economic activities, mining “should be at the service of the entire human community,” especially indigenous people who are often pressured “to abandon their homelands to make room for mining projects which are undertaken without regard for the degradation of nature and culture.”

The apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Mogadishu, Somalia, called on the world to “pay attention to the plight of Somali people” as they face critical food shortages because of a crippling drought.

While protests against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro raged across the country, National Guard forces loyal to the embattled head of state launched tear gas at churchgoers attending Mass at a local parish.