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WASHINGTON - In a unanimous ruling April 19, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the long-standing requirement of the House of Representatives that it open each day it is in session with a prayer. An atheist had sued, saying denying him the opportunity to give a "secular prayer" as a guest chaplain was unconstitutional.

The new outreach in the northern Virginia suburbs hard hit by the opioid crisis includes clinical help for addicts and their families, prayer teams to intercede on behalf of addicts and parish resource committees to support families.

Understandably, those who work with them are very concerned by the numbers and are engaged in conversations about what can be done to stem the tide of those departing, and to bring back those who have left. These two books are a welcome contribution to that conversation.

WASHINGTON - Church membership in the United States has dropped considerably in the last two decades, and the number of people who say they have no religion has increased, a new report from Gallup shows.

Hollywood's 1903 "Passion Play" and History's 2018 TV "Life of Christ" span 40 years of the Jesus story on screen in English alone, with more than 30 in other languages. What is your favorite Passion Play movie for repeat Holy Week/Easter viewing? Your least favorite? Your most/least favorite Jesus/Pilate?

WASHINGTON – Whether it was deliberate or by accident, the Archdiocese of Washington announced on the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. the selection of its new leader, set to become its first black archbishop.

WASHINGTON -- Phally Budock, who will enter the church this Easter at St. Andrew Apostle Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, has always believed in God, but for a long time she did not understand why God allowed terrible things to happen, such as the atrocities she witnessed during the Cambodian genocide in the late 1970s.

WASHINGTON - Undergraduate students at Jesuit-run Georgetown University voted overwhelmingly April 11 to pay a new student fee that would be for reparations to the descendants of slaves owned and later sold by the school. The university said the vote "raises complex issues that we are prepared to grapple with and embrace."

Three bills have been introduced in Congress in recent weeks that would establish a small tax on employers and employees to fund leaves for childbirth and adoption, personal illness and caring for a sick family member.

Some speculate Jesus died on the cross of asphyxiation or a trauma-induced heart attack. But Catholic doctor Timothy Millea feels blood loss is not only the medically likely theory but also corresponds with the theological teachings of atoning sacrifice, with Jesus taking the place of the slaughtered lambs of the Old Testament. "Jesus was literally the sacrificial lamb," he says.

"As autistics, we have the opportunity to experience God’s love in an autistic way. We don’t have to conform our own experience of God, in prayer and in the liturgy, to how others think, but we can experience it our own way, which is 100 percent valid.” Pope Francis and Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Vatican Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, also recognized the day.

WASHINGTON - Statehouses across the United States have served as venues for the abortion debate to play out in the past few months, but the action April 9 was on Capitol Hill with a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

WASHINGTON - More than 140 religious leaders, including the chairmen of three U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' committees, called on President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders to uphold principles of religious freedom following a series of attacks on people of faith, clergy and houses of worship.

In the quest to bring her deported Mexican husband, Marcos, back to the United States to live with her and their four children, Elizabeth Perez has frequently turned to prayer.

Wright has the admirable intent of showing Dorothy Day's loyalty, but he tries too hard to fit her into a preexisting model of sanctity. Unfortunately, this diminishes many of her important contributions and ignores her distinctive American characteristics. Day was not just a loyal daughter of the church. Her spirituality and protest were formed and expressed at a particular time in American history. To pretend otherwise is a disservice to her and to the reader of this otherwise fine book.

WASHINGTON - The human face of immigration on the U.S,-Mexico border has changed dramatically in 10 years. Today, instead of single Mexican men crossing the border and hoping to evade capture, youths and families cross hoping to be caught so they can claim asylum.

NEW YORK - "The Best of Enemies" (STX) is an appealing fact-based drama that promotes humane values and Gospel-guided behavior. On that basis, many parents may consider it a rewarding film for older teens, the inclusion of some mature material notwithstanding.

"There's going to be one saint downstairs that's going to reach out and communicate with you in a personal way," said Father Carlos Martins. "There's going to be one saint that is going to say to you, 'I want to be your friend.' Your job ... is to find your saint." The priest travels with "Treasures of the Church," a display of 150 sacred relics of saints, w

HYATTSVILLE, Md. - Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, set to become the new head of the Archdiocese of Washington, promised to serve with truth, love and tenderness in a region where he acknowledged "unrest and anger," after the downfall of former Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick and the church's current sex abuse scandal. "I want to offer you hope. I will rebuild your trust," Archbishop Gregory said during an April 4 news conference.

WASHINGTON – At the start of a mid-March gathering at Georgetown University, organizers asked church leaders, activists and members of indigenous communities to think of a person they knew who had worked in defense of the environment and to call out his or her name.