Washington D.C., May 22, 2020 CNA.- President Donald Trump on Friday called on state governors to reopen churches “right now.” At a Friday press briefing, Trump said that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) would “at my direction” be issuing new guidance for churches to reopen. He said he was identifying houses of worship as “essential places that provide essential services,” noting that state governors had classified such establishments as liquor stores and abortion clinics as providing essential services, but not churches.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Twenty-five years ago, St. John Paul II's encyclical on ecumenism, "Ut Unum Sint," put the papal seal of approval on a shift in the Catholic Church's approach to the search for Christian unity.

On Sunday, Msgr. Kevin O'Leary and I celebrated our regular weekly television Mass. Of course, this past Sunday was Mother's Day, and so we offered the Mass for all mothers, living and deceased and in a particular way for birthmothers who were courageous enough to entrust their child to an adoptive family and the mothers of those adoptive families.