Churches shelter people escaping violence as death toll from Israeli attacks climbs in Lebanon September 25, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Disaster Relief, Feature, News, World News Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon meant to target Hezbollah militants have led to over 550 deaths, including 50 children and 94 women, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Christian churches in the country are sheltering people escaping violence.
Caritas ‘shocked’ by murder of director in Democratic Republic of Congo September 24, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Disaster Relief, News, World News The director of Caritas in Congo was shot and killed by an armed militant group while approaching a roadblock, Caritas Internationalis announced.
Swedish cardinal ‘stupefied,’ annoyed by papabile speculation September 20, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius, a Carmelite, has often been lauded for his level-headedness and is liked by both conservatives and progressives in his country.
Stigmata: The miraculous gift St. Francis wanted to hide September 17, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Saints, World News Franciscans around the world commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata on Sept. 17, 1224, the appearance of the bodily wounds of Christ’s crucifixion.
As wildfires rage in Bolivia, bishops warn of lasting damage to ‘Mother Earth’ September 11, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Disaster Relief, Environment, News, World News The bishops of Bolivia urged the country’s authorities to act quickly in staving off irreparable harm to people and the environment as raging wildfires continue to devastate millions of acres.
New Maori queen crowned in New Zealand — and she’s Catholic September 5, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, World News Amid the grief following the death of their king, the Maori people rejoiced as the late monarch’s youngest daughter, Nga Wai hono i te po, was named as his successor.
New study says Shroud of Turin bloodstains are ‘consistent with Jesus Christ’s tortures’ August 29, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News A study published in July revealed that a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin, including the composition and a microscopic analysis of bloodstains, shows that the marks are consistent with the tortures endured by Christ as described in the Gospels.
Catholics in Southern Italian diocese protest abuse cover up August 28, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, World News Catholics in the Southern Italian city of Enna, Sicily, protested the local church’s role in covering up sexual abuse after a court recently ruled that the diocesan bishop sought to protect a priest accused of having abused several minors as a seminarian.
Christian convert imprisoned in Egypt declares hunger strike; advocates urge his release August 20, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News A Christian convert in Egypt who has been imprisoned for more than two years for publicly speaking about his conversion has declared a hunger strike, prompting religious freedom advocates to increase their calls for his release.
World Humanitarian Day highlights tragic record sacrifice of aid workers in war zones August 19, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Disaster Relief, Feature, News, War in Ukraine, World News As the world commemorates World Humanitarian Day 2024, the latest figures on the dire circumstances aid workers face on the frontline highlight the alarming increase in attacks against them and their work to relieve the suffering of civilians caught in the crossfire.
St. Maximilian Kolbe: ‘Patron of our difficult century’ August 14, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Saints, World News In his homily during St. Maximilian Kolbe’s canonization Mass Oct. 10, 1982, St. John Paul II said the Polish Franciscan was granted the grace of carrying out “in an absolutely literal manner” the words of Christ: “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Italian court rules bishop ‘facilitated’ abuse by protecting accused priest July 31, 2024By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, World News The bishop of a southern Italian diocese deliberately avoided protecting victims in his diocese and instead sought to protect a priest long accused of having abused several minors as a seminarian, a court in the southern Italian city of Enna ruled.