From a young age, Cesar Chavez received inspiration from Father Donald McDonnell, who introduced him to social justice and the principles of nonviolence. Chronicling the birth of a modern American movement, the bio pic Cesar Chavez tells the story of the famed civil rights leader, labor organizer and devout Catholic torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers.

New Poll Explores U.S. Catholics’ Views of the Pope After His First Year

?Bishop Mark J. Seitz has announced that the El Paso Diocesan Church will celebrate its 100th birthday March 1 at the Ysleta Mission. The mission is the oldest Catholic institution in the Diocese of El Paso.

Almost two weeks after the national March for Life rally in Washington, the Guttmacher Institute reported a 13 percent drop in national abortion rates from 2008 to 2011—making for the lowest rate since 1973 when abortion on demand was legalized in the U.S.

The movie “Son of God,” now showing in theaters, should be seen as “a love story,” according to two of its executive producers, the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

Recent conflicts in California and Texas between physicians and the families of patients considered to be brain dead have prompted new questions about end-of-life decision-making.

Supreme Court justices Jan. 15 pressed attorneys about when it is constitutional to prohibit certain kinds of speech in a case over buffer zones around abortion clinics.

If Texas parents want to choose new schools for their children for the upcoming (2014-15) school year, they need to start researching the schooling options available to their children right away. That is the message from organizers of National School Choice Week, which this week featured 460 events across the Lone Star State and 5,500 events nationwide.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Nov. 26 to take up two cases that challenge provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide contraceptive coverage on behalf of for-profit companies whose owners object to the mandate for religious reasons.

WASHINGTON—The annual Collection for the Church in Latin America (CLA) is scheduled for the weekend of Jan. 25-26 in parishes across the country. The collection supports pastoral projects in Latin America and the Caribbean that help Catholics to share their faith.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The share of countries with a high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year peak in 2012, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center.

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston said the more than 55 million abortions in the United States since the Rowe v. Wade decision reflect “with heartbreaking magnitude” what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.”

Father Christopher Stainbrook still remembers the trepidation his parishioners felt when St. Timothy’s, an Anglican congregation, decided to join the Catholic Church as part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Pope Francis named the vicar general of the Diocese of Austin to be bishop of San Angelo.

In enunciating the principles of Catholic social teaching, popes have long stressed the church’s special concern for the poor and the need for state intervention to promote economic justice.

On Nov. 12, the bishops elected Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., to succeed New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The archbishop had been USCCB vice president. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston was elected vice president.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Already. Even before Halloween jack-o-lanterns were carved, retailers were advertising the joys of Christmas gift giving—and getting—on television.

?The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues the tradition of providing online resources for the Advent and Christmas seasons with daily suggestions for prayer, reflection and action beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1. The content is presented in a clickable calendar format, with each date opening a page of suggestions and links.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Nov. 26 to take up two cases that challenge provisions of the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide contraceptive coverage on behalf of for-profit companies whose owners object to the mandate for religious reasons.

MIDLAND—An anonymous West Texan, identified only as a “generous donor from the Permian Basin,” has committed to helping raise what could amount to as much as $1.5 million to benefit the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, the devastating storm that struck the Philippines on Nov. 8.