The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 9-2 decision that the San Jose Unified School District likely violated the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ First Amendment right to free exercise of religion when it revoked its status as a recognized high school student club.

When Pope Francis said he wanted the focus of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to be “something very different” from the dicastery’s reputation as a stringent watchdog, he was not saying anything goes, Cardinal-designate Víctor Fernández, the dicastery’s new prefect, said in an interview.

A Philadelphia-born priest has negotiated a truce among several gang leaders in Haiti, inviting them to “work hard to end violence” in the troubled nation.

Pope Francis has named Spanish-born Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo, who has held the No. 2 post at the Vatican office that oversees the world’s religious orders, to be coadjutor archbishop of Mérida-Badajoz, Spain.

Communicating Pope Francis’ efforts to promote dialogue and advance peace efforts in Ukraine is a “great problem” for Catholic clergy and faithful in the country, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.