An Israeli soldier has been sentenced to 21 days of military detention for placing a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon, while another soldier who photographed the act received a 14-day sentence, the Israeli army said May 11.

On the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election, a group promoting the Catholic faith in Chicago’s south suburbs led an inaugural pilgrimage to his boyhood home and the church he attended as a boy.

If rational, extraterrestrial beings exist, what would be God’s relationship to them?

Dialogue between the Vatican and German bishops regarding the blessing of same-sex unions is ongoing, and it was too soon to talk about sanctions, said the Vatican secretary of state.

President Donald Trump said May 11 he plans to discuss the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai during his upcoming visit to China; however, he suggested the prominent Catholic and pro-democracy campaigner “caused a lot of bedlam.”

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield, who retired in 2018 as head of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston amid multiple allegations of grave sexual and financial misconduct, died May 7 at age 82.

Pope Leo XIV thanked the people of Spain’s Canary Islands after passengers exposed to hantavirus aboard a cruise ship were allowed to disembark on the island of Tenerife.

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider a challenge to President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, the mother of a U.S.-born infant, who is displaced from her own country of origin, told OSV News her son “should belong to this country.”

During his May 7 visit to St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, a member of the Trappist monastic order, sat down with OSV News to share his insights on Christian hope, the dangers of AI and weaponizing the Christian faith, and the need for patience in the spiritual life.

Outrage has grown as a photo surfaced of an Israeli soldier desecrating a statue of the Virgin Mary in Lebanon. Concerns are mounting about increasing anti-Christian behavior as Israel continues war in the Middle East.