School smartphone, social media bans gain momentum across U.S. January 25, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: 2026 Catholic Schools Week, News, Schools, World News Nationwide, 26 states have mandated complete bans on smartphones in K-12 public schools, while others allow usage with on-campus restrictions. According to Education Week, “31 states either already limit or ban students from using their personal devices in school or plan to do so for the 2025-26 or 2026-27 school years.”
Notre Dame’s $50M grant aims to bring faith-based ethics to AI future in big way January 17, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Colleges, News, World News The University of Notre Dame recently received from the Lilly Endowment a $50.8 million grant — the largest given by a private foundation in the school’s history — to support the DELTA Network, a faith-based approach to AI ethics launched in September 2025.
Notre Dame reports success of guaranteed basic income program — will it go national? January 17, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Colleges, News, Social Justice, World News Guaranteed basic income, also known as universal basic income, is one of the more contested threads in America’s social safety net — the network of state and federal government programs designed to insulate citizens from economic hardship.
Trump’s order and Pope Leo’s vision for regulating AI: Can they converge? January 10, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: AI, News, World News Since the explosion of generative artificial intelligence began in the 2020s — with its ability to generate human-like text, realistic images, and convincing film — users and developers of AI have warned consistent regulatory guardrails are necessary to protect against documented harms, an issue of particular concern to Pope Leo XIV.
Shrine prepares to share Mother Seton’s ‘Revolutionary’ impact as America turns 250 January 7, 2026By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Saints In a revolutionary year, the spirited celebration of America’s 250th anniversary throughout 2026, the national shrine dedicated to the first U.S.-born saint is aiming to help patriotic revelers discover the place of “Mother Seton” among the pantheon of iconic nation-builders.
2025 spans life spectrum, from abortion and family programs to immigration and death penalty December 27, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, Respect Life, World News Life issues are perennially critical to the robust public witness of the Catholic Church, but 2025 nonetheless proved a particularly eventful year across a wide spectrum of related concerns.
Trending: A (young) revival in the faith? December 25, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Evangelization, Feature, News, World News, Youth Ministry An interesting trend is bubbling up within the church: a revival of sorts that is leading to large numbers of people either entering the church or coming into full Catholic communion. Many of them are young people.
Experts offer strategies for connection during Christmas amid U.S. ‘epidemic’ of loneliness December 24, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Christmas, News, World News The holidays are here, and the Savior comes — but for many, it will still be a blue Christmas, and possibly new year, too.
Catholic Law conference puts spotlight on Big Tech ethics in the era of AI November 23, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: AI, Colleges, News, World News Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way people live and work. But who decides what society is owed by those who develop it, sell it and use it? Especially when it comes to the potential good or harm AI might — or can — do?
New Barna data shows Gen Z leads in weekly in-person church attendance November 15, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, social media, World News, Youth Ministry They were the first generation to have technology at their fingertips from birth — “digital natives” who grew up with the Internet, iPhones, iPads, and computers. They’re Generation Z, better known as “Gen Z” — born between 1997-2012 — and they’re estimated to be nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
‘Do you love Jesus more than your political opinion?’: Bishop Tyson says the church faces a test November 10, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, Catholic Social Teaching, Immigration and Migration, News, World News The U.S. policy of mass deportation toward immigrants lacking legal authorization to be in the U.S., potentially affects one in six Catholics (18 percent) in the U.S., either because they are vulnerable personally or live with someone who is, according to a joint Catholic-Evangelical report issued earlier this year.
Catholics brace for Medicaid cuts’ expected major impact on rural health care October 27, 2025By Kimberly Heatherington OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Health Care, News, World News The 66 million people who live in the rural areas of the United States are facing the emergence of a new kind of Rust Belt, with its accompanying lack of jobs and services.
