Ruth Graham

The first American pope arrives at a time of extraordinary complexity and tension in the church in the United States.

The state law, in Washington, applies to all religions but has outraged Catholics in particular. The Justice Department is investigating.

It’s Danny Kind, and he’s not even Catholic. But he’s in a college class that simulated the conclave of 1492. (There were costumes, bribes and Oreos.)

In Detroit, traditionalist Catholics were bracing for a crackdown. The promise of change in Rome offers them a sliver of hope.