Via Crucis: The final Holy Week journey of Pope Francis March 25, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News Following his release from Gemelli Hospital in March 2025, Pope Francis was prescribed two months of rest by doctors to recover after five weeks of hospitalization. Outside of a few brief appearances, it was widely expected that the pope would be seen little during Holy Week.
Belgian bishop says he will ‘make every effort’ to ordain married men by 2028 March 24, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Marriage & Family Life, News, Vocations, World News A Belgian Catholic bishop said he “will make every effort to ordain married men as priests” and expressed his commitment to doing so by 2028.
UK church leaders, pro-life advocates say Britain now has ‘most extreme’ abortion legislation March 19, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Respect Life, World News Religious leaders and pro-life advocates are raising alarms about changes to abortion laws in Britain after the House of Lords advanced legislation that would remove penalties for women who terminate their pregnancies.
Christians in Holy Land face further despair, suffering, Latin Patriarchate official says March 16, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News As retaliatory strikes from Iran, as well as from Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, continued, people in the Holy Land — especially Christians — face a dire present and an uncertain future.
Pope Leo XIV accepts resignation of Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako March 10, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Louis Sako, the Iraq-based Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Baghdad, ending his 13-year tenure leading Iraq’s largest Christian denomination, the Vatican said.
Cardinal Mathieu in Rome after evacuation from Iran March 10, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Belgian Cardinal Dominique Mathieu of Tehran-Isfahan surfaced in Rome after days of uncertainty about his whereabouts following the start of a U.S. and Israel-Iran war.
Christians ‘most persecuted religious community in the world,’ Vatican tells UN March 9, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News The Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations in Geneva called on governments and international organizations to strengthen religious freedom protections for persecuted Christians.
Pope urges peace, warns about wider Middle East conflict March 9, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV called for an end to the war in Iran and warned that the conflict could drag more countries in the Middle East into instability.
As Middle East chaos grows, Jerusalem abbey becomes refuge for prayer, interfaith solidarity March 6, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Amid the escalating chaos of another war in the Middle East, Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel said the abbey where he resides has become an “island of hope in an ocean of suffering” where even people of different faiths have found refuge.
Prayer, unity essential as conflict spreads to Gulf States, says apostolic vicar of region March 4, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News The apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia warned that the current military escalation in the Persian Gulf amid the U.S. and Israel-Iran war is a conflict with “ancient roots” that poses a serious threat to the Middle East and the wider world.
Young Catholics want doctrinal clarity, not adaptability, Irish bishop says March 3, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, World News, Youth Ministry The next generation of young Catholics is less interested in a Church that adapts to modern culture and more drawn to one with a solid doctrinal foundation that is firmly anchored against a fragmented world, an Irish bishop said.
Lebanese archbishop: Innocents are ‘paying the price’ of Middle East war March 3, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News As the scourge of war spreads across the Middle East, including Lebanon, the ones paying the ultimate price are the innocent men, women and children who want to live in peace, said Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop Georges Iskandar of Tyre.
