BRAINTREE -- After two months without in-person religious gatherings, parish staffs had to work cooperatively and creatively to resume public Masses during the weekend of May 23-24 while following the archdiocese's guidelines to ensure people's health and safety.

On Sunday, May 17, we offered our Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Easter for healthcare workers -- doctors, nurses, support staff, those who do the cleaning and provide services -- all of those who are really putting their lives at risk to make sure everyone is cared for during this pandemic.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Congress needs to remember the needs of "the poor, the vulnerable and people on the margins" when considering additional pandemic economic relief packages, said the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Amid global coronavirus lockdowns, domestic violence has emerged as "a pandemic within a pandemic," said Catholic clinical psychologist Christauria Welland. "Our rates in the U.S. for physical and sexual violence against women were already at one in three," she said. Based in California, Welland has counseled both those who are abused and their abusers for decades.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Commemorating the fifth anniversary of his encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis called on Christians to join in prayer and acts of care for the Earth and for the poor. After reciting the "Regina Coeli" prayer May 24, the pope encouraged Catholics to participate in the celebration of the "Special Laudato Si' Anniversary Year," a yearlong series of initiatives dedicated to putting the encyclical's teaching into action.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, clearing the way for his beatification. While the Vatican announced May 27 that Pope Francis had signed the decree, it did not announce a date for the beatification ceremony.