WASHINGTON -- A Supreme Court decision allowing indoor worship services in Santa Clara county, California, was praised by Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of San Jose, located in the county where the ban had been in effect.

VATICAN CITY -- For believers, the ability to practice their faith and receive spiritual guidance are "the highest of essential services," and pandemic practices over the past year have shown they are not automatically super-spreader events, the Vatican foreign minister said.

VANCOUVER -- Catholic lawyers in the Archdiocese of Vancouver are adding their voices to the growing numbers calling for the B.C. government to end its ban on worship services.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, once again siding with houses of worship opposed to pandemic-related restrictions, ordered lower federal courts in Colorado and New Jersey Dec. 15 to reexamine state-imposed indoor worship restrictions.

ROME -- Catholic bishops in Malta said that while they support equality and are against discrimination, they are concerned that two new bills meant to protect people's rights would instead threaten personal freedoms.

BEIJING -- Catholics are upset about a directive from China's communist government asking priests to "preach on patriotism" as a condition for reopening liturgical services, suspended earlier this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNITED NATIONS -- President Donald Trump called on world leaders at a Sept. 23 U.N. event on religious freedom to end religious persecution around the globe.

The executive director of Canadian Physicians for Life spoke for many when she grieved a ruling by Ontario’s highest court that suggested religious rights, in the grand scheme of things, aren’t really a big deal.

Canadian Catholics should perhaps be upset with governments that trample on our basic rights. Whether our silence reveals resilience or indifference may be determined by the test of time.

OTTAWA – Saint Paul University is being accused of stifling free speech on campus after the Catholic university abruptly cancelled a pro-abortion film and accompanying presentation by Planned Parenthood.

OTTAWA - The Catholic Women’s League is raising concerns about the impact Canada’s new transgender law will have on freedom of religion and speech.

VATICAN CITY – Governments work best when they are secular, not confessional, but they must give ample space for people to express their religious beliefs, including by respecting the right of conscientious objection, Pope Francis told the French Catholic newspaper La Croix.