While the forces of a market economy may obstruct people from advancing social justice, society cannot remain mute in the face of unjust labor practices and exploitative economic structures, Pope Francis said.

A funeral Mass will be offered May 10, 10 a.m., at St. Joseph in Cockeysville for Jesuit Brother Darrell J. Burns. Brother Darrell, a former theater director and chaplain at Loyola Blakefield in Towson, died May 3. He was 79.

The bishops of Maryland issued a statement May 8 objecting to a November 2024 ballot measure in which Marylanders will be asked to enshrine abortion into the state Constitution.

The U.S. fertility rate has slowed to a new record low, according to an analysis recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But experts said there does not appear to be any one policy that could reverse a complex trend.

The world is in great need of hope and patience, Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience.