Cultural trends and technology threaten contemplation, Cardinal Roche says April 1, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Arts & Culture, News, Vatican, World News Modern cultural influences, including technology and shifting views on identity, risk weakening human relationships and spiritual development, said Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Pope Leo XIV introduces changes in Secretariat of State leadership March 30, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV named Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute secretary for general affairs at the Vatican Secretariat of State, as the apostolic nuncio to Italy and the Republic of San Marino, the Vatican said.
Israel to allow Church leaders to celebrate Holy Week, Easter at holy sites, Latin patriarchate says March 30, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, World News The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an agreement has been reached with Israeli authorities to allow Holy Week and Easter celebrations to take place at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after they were initially barred from celebrating Palm Sunday.
Pope calls on French bishops to find solution to divisive liturgy debates March 26, 2026By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News, Worship & Sacraments Pope Leo XIV lamented the divisions surrounding the celebration of the Latin Mass and called on the French bishops’ conference to find solutions that include those attached to the old form of Mass.
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.
