As night falls across continents on Nov. 19, more than 600 churches and landmarks will light up in red, reminding the world that Christian persecution remains a stark global reality.

Insisting that the dignity of all people, including immigrants, must be respected, Pope Leo XIV asked U.S. Catholics and “people of goodwill” to read and listen to the U.S. bishops’ recent pastoral message on the topic.

A new nationwide survey finds most Catholic priests in France are strikingly upbeat about their ministry. A large majority of priests in France say they are “happy,” according to a broad new survey by the “Observatory of Catholicism,” conducted with the French Institute of Public Opinion, or IFOP.

The chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace told OSV News he was heartened by a United Nations move to approve President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip by installing international transitional governance and military forces there.

During a Nov. 15 commemoration of Black Catholic History Month at Sacred Heart Church in Bowie, the Archdiocese of Washington unveiled a new project that seeks to “honor those enslaved by the Catholic Church in Maryland.”

Prominent Catholic philosophical and legal scholar Robert P. George has resigned from the board of the conservative Heritage Foundation, saying he “could not remain” without its president fully retracting a video defending a controversial interview, platforming a leading white supremacist, that has split conservatives over the issue of antisemitism.

As the U.N. Climate Conference continued in Brazil, the pope dedicated his weekly general audience talk Nov. 19 to explaining how Jesus’ death and resurrection should lead Christians to “a spirituality of integral ecology,” which seeks the good of the human person and the planet.

Catholics of Dublin have a dedicated cathedral for the first time in 500 years following Pope Leo XIV’s decision on Nov. 14 to designate St. Mary’s Pro Cathedral as the Irish capital’s official Catholic cathedral.

Religious orders of men and women must continue perfecting their efforts to ensure the safety and integrity of every child, every person they meet and every member of their order, Pope Leo XIV said.

In its 2025 report, the Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, or OIDAC, noted “a significant rise in personal attacks” against Christians in 2024.