U.S. Catholics urged to pray novena for life Jan. 16-24 January 12, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, World News The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities is inviting Catholics nationwide to pray “9 Days for Life” Jan. 16-24.
As African bishops say no to same-sex blessings, French bishops will conduct them ‘generously’ January 11, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Marriage & Family Life, News, Vatican, World News Citing cultural differences and doctrinal confusion, the bishops’ conferences across Africa ruled that same-sex blessings will not be carried out in the continent.
USCCB’s Bishop Barron joins pope in calling ‘surrogate motherhood’ a grave injustice January 11, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, Feature, News, Respect Life, World News Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, the head of the U.S. bishops’ committee dealing with family life, voiced support Jan. 10 for Pope Francis’ recent remarks condemning gestational surrogacy as “a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child” and calling for a worldwide ban.
‘Come and help us!’ German bishop tells young Catholics at SEEK24 January 8, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Colleges, Feature, News, World News, Young Adult Ministry Addressing a room crowded with several hundred university students, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, Germany, discussed a wide range of topics with attendees during an open question-and-answer session held during the SEEK24 conference in St. Louis.
FOCUS leaders say synodality, listening to young people guided mission of SEEK24 January 5, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Colleges, Feature, News, World News, Young Adult Ministry A record number of attendees gathered at the Jan. 1-5 SEEK24 conference in downtown St. Louis, with excitement already mounting for the 2025 conference.
Bishop O’Connell of Trenton, N.J., undergoes emergency heart surgery in Rome January 5, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, Feature, News, World News Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton, 68, suffered a heart attack Jan. 4 while in Rome and was taken to Santo Spirito hospital where he had emergency surgery to open a completely closed artery, according to a Jan. 5 diocesan statement.
Thousands of Catholics gather in St. Louis to go on mission, ‘be the light’ at SEEK24 January 2, 2024By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Colleges, Feature, News, World News Nearly 20,000 conference participants have converged in St. Louis at the America’s Center Convention Complex for the Jan. 1-5 SEEK24 conference held by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.
Desperation of war, tragic loss of life marks ‘sad’ 2023 on the global stage December 31, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, Feature, News, War in Ukraine, World News From Ukraine to Nigeria, and from Nicaragua to the Holy Land, 2023 was full of tragic situations that deeply affected the church and faithful. OSV News revisited four places clinging to hope that the new year will bring an improvement in the lives of people living in societies torn by conflict and persecution.
Serving church, country ‘an honor,’ says priest promoted to general in Air Force Chaplain Corps December 31, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vocations, World News At Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Father Peter Zalewski is a busy and beloved pastor, tending to the activities of his church community and the local Catholic school, the largest primary school in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
As migration increased in 2023, so did pressures on the church’s ministry December 28, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News Unauthorized border crossings increased in 2023, fueled in part by shifts in U.S. policy and global migration trends. The year saw increasingly heated anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions that also put Catholic Charities agencies — and the church’s religious freedom to minister to migrants — in the crosshairs.
U.S. bishops issue flurry of responses to Vatican blessings document December 22, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, Feature, Marriage & Family Life, News, Vatican, World News Following the Dec. 18 release of the Holy See’s declaration permitting blessings of those in irregular relationships, and the ensuing reaction from media and Catholics around the country, U.S. bishops have been responding with their own statements supporting and/or clarifying the document, known as “Fiducia Supplicans.”
‘Beware of reading too much too quickly’ into same-sex blessings document, say global bishops December 21, 2023By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Marriage & Family Life, News, World News While several Western European bishops praised the Dec. 18 declaration of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on blessing same-sex couples as “a major breakthrough in pastoral care,” reactions elsewhere have been mixed, with African bishops offering explainers for “confused” faithful or banning same-sex blessings.
