Soli Salgado

Honduras community defends life-giving river from destructive pollution from an iron oxide mine in the protected Carlos Escaleras National Park.

At the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry conference in D.C., 400 participants — including 90 young adults — focused on social justice, young adults, families, and pastoral formation for Hispanic Catholics.

"My heart kind of dropped and I realized, oh, this wasn't just a one-off incident with me when he crossed the boundary," one of the women says of the Catholic composer. "This is a pattern of behavior."

U.S. voters must choose between two presidential candidates accused of sexual assault. To the extent that political bodies can learn anything from the Catholic Church, the lessons are in the failings, say Catholic activists, feminists and survivor advocates.

Distancing measures have severed the ability to pray in community, a practice that animates many Latinos in the U.S. who see relationships as an integral part of their Catholic, spiritual expression.

The president of the Catholic University of Costa Rica, Fernando Sánchez Campos thinks creating "Laudato Si' campuses" is an essential response to the pope's call for environmental action.

While media focus on married priests and women deacons, "for us, that is a distraction, because the bottom line is life," says a Curripaco leader from Venezuela. "This synod for us is about the planet."

ROME — Catholic clergy, scholars and indigenous leaders joined an Oct. 5 event where voices from the Amazon shared the experiences and concerns they hoped would influence the synod.

Latinos' view of the church as family and "embedded" clericalism may contribute to a reluctance to hold clergy accountable. But their divergence from Anglo Catholics blurs among the young.

The V Encuentro national gathering closes with resolve that Catholic Latinos "don't want to be guests anymore. We want to be full members of the household of God."

For Gerardo Vargas, the prospect of dining with a bishop seemed like a meeting with the "undercover boss": "He’s the person in charge, and there are so many steps before getting to the bishop."

Halfway through four-year encuentro consultations, Hispanic Catholic delegates from throughout the United States gather for national discussion and reflection Sept. 20-23 in Texas.

Four-year nationwide consultations with the Hispanic Catholic community will culminate at the national V Encuentro Sept. 20-23 in Grapevine, Texas, as delegates gather to form a collective voice.

With parish and diocesan encuentros wrapped up, diocesan delegates have moved on to the regional level of the V Encuentro — a four-year grassroots consultation with Hispanic Catholics throughout the United States. Representatives from 14 out of the 15 dioceses throughout Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa gathered April 27-29 to talk about Hispanic Catholics in the heartland.

Research team finds there are 23,000 U.S.-born Hispanic Catholics for every U.S.-born Hispanic priest, and that 55 percent of Catholics younger than 14 are Hispanic.

Encuentro Eclesial is a recurring event that brings together Cuban bishops, priests, women religious and laypeople in both the U.S. and Cuba. The two groups have established friendship through 20 years of connection.

Cuban Catholics, ordained and lay, on both sides of the Florida Strait, have connected to strengthen Cuban parishes and civil society; they aim to build bridges between Cuba and the outside world.

Santiago, Chile -- Travelers from all over Latin America made their presence visible by bringing their country flag, most notably Argentina, which appeared to be the most popular visiting country.

Santiago, Chile -- Pope Francis has expressed "pain and shame" over the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Chile, telling the country's political leaders Jan. 16 that it is right for the church to ask forgiveness. Update.

Santiago, Chile -- Francis will be in Santiago Jan. 15-18, in an Andean country that's roughly 75 percent Catholic. But there's not much sign that Chile is about to host its first pope since 1987.