Catholic groups, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan's archdiocese of New York, filed lawsuits in federal courts on May 21 to stop the Obama administration from implementing a mandate that would require them to cover contraceptives in their health plans.

The disabled, says religion writer Mark Pinsky, “are not just people who need help, but they are people who can help."

This award-winning economist is credited with bringing down Thailand’s HIV infection rate, lowering its high birth rate, reducing poverty rates, and championing sustainable development ideas that work in rural settings.

“Deeply listening to what it is they’re saying." That, says young hospice chaplain Kerry Egan, is the most important gift she offers to the dying patients she ministers to in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

"A lot of people in caregiving situations ask, 'Why is God doing this to me? Where is God in the midst of all this?' and they really struggle with spiritual matters," says Rev. Kate Bryant. Her church started a special ministry to support parental caregivers.

"As a parish nurse one of the greatest things we do is be present and just listen," says Diane Tieman of Queen of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church in suburban Chicago.

"How they relate to God and their fellow man, their diet, their exercise, their avoidance of tobacco and alcohol—all of that collectively contributes to longevity," says Loma Linda University public health professor Larry Beeson.

In La Crosse, Wisconsin, 96 percent of all adults die with a completed advance directive. The directives are often based on end-of-life conversations that reflect a patient’s spiritual and ethical values.

When you talk about end-of-life issues, according to Gundersen Lutheran Health System’s director of clinical ethics, “you’re really talking about the meaning of life, about your religious beliefs and faith, and ultimately about who you are.”

Advance directives respect familial relationships, spiritual values, and individual choices, says the president of the National Association of Evangelicals.