WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and Congress "must come together" to reach a bipartisan solution that reopens the government and "recognizes the economic struggle" now facing federal workers and their families and all those helped by federal nutrition and housing programs, said two U.S. bishops.

Young teenage girls on their phones regularly put themselves at risk for sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, but those risks decrease for teens whose parents talk to them about avoiding strangers online, a new Ipsos study for Covenant House has found.

VATICAN – Pope Francis said that when he was on the Greek island of Lesbos, "while enchanted by the scenery of the blue sky and sea, I was struck by the thought that such a beautiful sea had become a tomb for men, women and children who had for the most part sought only to escape inhumane conditions in their own homelands."

The Good Shepherd Ministries is finding yet one more way it can help the homeless and vulnerable.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s new border and immigration enforcement rules needlessly endanger the vulnerable, militarize the border and will cause many other problems, the U.S. bishops warned this week.

OTTAWA - A broad alliance of Catholic and other organizations opposed to assisted suicide is urging that upcoming legislation provide explicit protections for disabled and other vulnerable people including a review by a judge or independent authority prior to the killing of any patient.

The Catholic Women’s League of Canada has called on the federal government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to block implementation of physician-assisted suicide.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has approved new procedures for the Vatican to investigate and judge claims of "abuse of office" by bishops who allegedly failed to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine church officials said the pope will be riding in open vehicles during his five-day visit in January.