Catholic Church

In the small town of Atchison, Kansas, some unlikely investors are making a name for themselves as outspoken shareholder activists. The 80 nuns of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastic are using the stock market to push for change.

Catholic bishops donated roughly $30,000 in Missouri, where an abortion rights amendment is on the ballot. That's just a fraction of the nearly $3.7 million that a Kansas diocese donated two years ago.

The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City- St. Joseph sent a letter urging parishioners in Missouri to vote against Amendment 3, which would legalize abortion. The letter contained language a judge previously called "problematic."

The Kansas City-based publication The National Catholic Reporter has hired James Grimaldi as its new leader. He brings decades of experience in investigative reporting at major publications like The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine has been a central part of life for Latinos in Kansas City’s Westside neighborhood for more than 100 years. Repairing it will require raising nearly $1 million, but community members refuse to let their history fade away.

"Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division," the sisters wrote of the NFL kicker's controversial commencement address.

Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs urged female graduates to embrace the title of "homemaker" in a controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College in Kansas. The NFL says he was speaking "in his personal capacity."

U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley is up for reelection this year, and Democratic challenger Lucas Kunce hopes to use Hawley's anti-abortion stance against him. The matchup could be on the ballot as the same time as a constitutional amendment legalizing abortion rights.

Groups affiliated with the Catholic Church have been at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement, in Missouri and elsewhere. But many Catholics don’t agree.

Missouri is shaping up to be big battleground over abortion rights in November. Even in this solidly Republican state, where the procedure is almost entirely illegal, many Catholics say they support a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.

Holy Trinity Catholic Parish announced earlier this month that Father John Pilcher had been appointed as its senior associate pastor. Pilcher was accused of sexual assault of a minor while working in Topeka, but the Kansas Bureau of Investigation could not substantiate the claims and no charges were filed.

For the first time, Women and laypeople will be represented as delegates at the Synod of Bishops, where they will help Pope Francis in deciding the direction of the Catholic Church.