Parents can’t wait for children to choose baptism, says pope, baptizing 20 infants in Sistine Chapel January 12, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News, Worship & Sacraments Just as we wouldn’t leave newborns without clothes or food, we cannot leave them without faith and baptism, Pope Leo XIV told parents of children he baptized in the splendor and beauty of the Sistine Chapel Jan. 11.
Church leaders must listen to abuse victims, those who suffer, pope tells cardinals January 12, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV strongly condemned the Church’s failure to welcome survivors of sexual abuse, calling it a “scandal” that deepens their suffering, even though the issue was not a main topic at the Jan. 7-8 extraordinary consistory in Rome.
Pope embraces youth of Rome, tells them setting world ablaze requires a burning heart January 12, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News, Youth Ministry Pope Leo XIV embraced the youth of Rome — both literally and with his words — during a Jan. 10 meeting with the young people of the Diocese of Rome, telling them to choose real relationships over digital isolation.
Pope delivers fierce defense of the unborn in address to diplomatic corps January 9, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Respect Life, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV strongly defended the family, marriage and unborn life during his first-ever New Year’s address to the diplomatic corps Jan. 9, telling the diplomats accredited to the Holy See that abortion “cuts short a growing life and refuses to welcome the gift of life.”
Cardinals leave consistory with a clear vision from pontiff: ‘A Church that cares’ January 9, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News After an intense day of roundtable discussions, the “low-batteried” but “very pleased” cardinals wrapped the first historic extraordinary consistory convened by Pope Leo XIV in a spirit of fraternity, with a sense of knowing each other better and saying they “discovered” the pope, while he did “more listening than talking.”
Pope to cardinals: You are not experts promoting agendas, but a community of faith January 8, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News Pope Leo XIV gathered cardinals present for the extraordinary consistory this week for an early morning Mass Jan. 8 in St. Peter’s Basilica, telling them they’re together not to promote “agendas,” but to take part in a “discernment” that “comes from the Lord.”
As consistory begins, so does symbolic transition from Francis to Leo January 7, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News Cardinals from around the world are gathering at the Vatican Jan. 7-8 for an extraordinary consistory called by Pope Leo XIV, an event seen as the first major step in his governance of the universal Church.
As jubilee year ends, the faithful heed Pope Leo’s call to keep the church alive January 6, 2026By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Jubilee 2025, News, Vatican, World News After a jubilee year not seen for centuries — with one pope opening the Holy Door and another closing it — Pope Leo XIV ended the Jubilee Year of Hope at St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 6 telling the world to love and seek peace, protect what is holy, and flee from modern efficiency.
New archbishop of Krakow tells faithful that without them he ‘doesn’t make sense’ December 22, 2025By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Bishops, News, World News Entering the centuries-old Royal Wawel Cathedral in Kraków on Dec. 20, Cardinal Grzegorz Rys opened a new chapter of one of the oldest archdioceses in Catholic Poland, telling the faithful that without them he “doesn’t make sense.”
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai convicted in ‘farce’ national security trial December 15, 2025By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News Hong Kong’s prominent Catholic, media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai has been convicted of national security offenses under the city’s controversial national security law.
Trappist bishop in Norway says Advent calls Catholics to hope in the darkness December 14, 2025By Paulina Guzik OSV News Filed Under: Advent, News, World News As Advent unfolds in the far north, Bishop Erik Varden says the season’s power lies not in cheerfulness but in hope—”light shining at the darkest point of the night.”
From Nigeria to Belarus, 2025 marks a grim year for religious freedom December 9, 2025By Paulina Guzik Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News As 2025 draws to a close, the plight of persecuted Christians around the world remains dire — and in many places, deeply forgotten.
