USCIRF says government must not retreat from defense of international religious liberty March 27, 2025By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, Religious Freedom, World News The U.S. should not retreat from its vital role in defending and promoting religious freedom around the globe, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urged in a March 25 event unveiling its 2025 annual report.
Jesuits offer help to women who say they were abused by Father Rupnik March 27, 2025By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News The Jesuits have written to 20 women who have accused Father Marko Rupnik of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse, offering to work with them to find a path of reparation “geared toward healing the wounds” caused by the former Jesuit priest.
Supreme Court upholds effort to regulate ‘ghost guns’ March 26, 2025By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Gun Violence, News, Supreme Court, World News The Supreme Court March 26 upheld a Biden administration effort to regulate so-called “ghost guns,” or unserialized, untraceable firearms that can be assembled in as little as 30 minutes from kits purchased online.
Vatican statistics: Baptisms down, but first Communions, confirmations up March 26, 2025By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics.
Cardinal McElroy, immigration advocates warn U.S. at a moral crossroad with migrants March 26, 2025By Kate Scanlon OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News Representatives of Catholic and immigration advocacy organizations, and Washington’s new Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, grappled with the need to send a clear moral message on the dignity of migrants amid the “uncertainty” of the political moment at a recent event in the nation’s capital.
Leading French cardinal calls for ‘reawakening of hope’ amid global turmoil March 26, 2025By Caroline de Sury OSV News Filed Under: News, World News Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, a top contender to lead the French bishops’ conference, delivered a powerful lecture March 22 in Marseille, calling for a “reawakening of hope” in the face of global turmoil.
Jesus pursues brokenness to offer healing, pope’s catechesis says March 26, 2025By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News Jesus seeks out people in their woundedness and isolation to offer healing and hope, even when they feel furthest from God, Pope Francis said in a prepared catechesis.
Man charged with terrorism for alleged threat to ‘butcher’ Memphis Catholic churchgoers March 26, 2025By Kurt Jensen OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, World News A 30-year-old man believed to be homeless was arrested and charged with the commission of an act of terrorism following a threat he allegedly emailed to a music minister at St. Louis Catholic Church in Memphis, Tenn., claiming he wanted to “butcher” people in the church with a machete.
U.S. bishop warns renewed Israel-Hamas war augurs ‘dire consequences’ for the region March 26, 2025By OSV News OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas will have “dire consequences” for civil society’s future and is likely to worsen the region’s tensions for another generation, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said in a statement following the breakdown of a ceasefire agreement in the Holy Land.
Principal of Legionaries of Christ-linked school in Spain resigns amid abuse scandal March 26, 2025By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, News, World News The principal of a school run by members of Regnum Christi, the lay arm of the Legionaries of Christ, resigned after a school chaplain was arrested for sexually abusing five underage girls.
U.S. lawmakers push anti-discrimination bill to protect pregnancy resource centers March 26, 2025By Kurt Jensen OSV News Filed Under: News, Religious Freedom, Respect Life, World News The language of the latest incarnation of the Let Pregnancy Centers Serve Act, a bill aimed at protecting more than 2,700 pregnancy resource centers nationwide from federal and state interference, is not radically different than the language of the one introduced in Congress last year.
Special Mass at Washington cathedral offers support to federal workers March 25, 2025By Nicole Olea OSV News Filed Under: DOGE cuts, News, World News A special Mass for federal workers and civil servants celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington offered a message of solidarity and hope amid ongoing employment uncertainties.
