A Chinese surveillance balloon flying at high altitudes over the continental U.S. was shot down over the water off the South Carolina coast by U.S. military Feb. 4, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III confirmed in a statement Saturday afternoon.

At the end of six days in African countries bloodied by war and conflict, Pope Francis said that “the biggest plague” afflicting the world today is the weapons trade.

powerful earthquake struck Turkey and Syria in the early morning hours of Feb. 6, killing hundreds and leaving thousands more wounded.

Some pro-life leaders have called on Congress to make childbirth free for mothers, while others maintain addressing the financial burden of raising children will make greater impacts on saving lives from abortion.

Affordable child care must be a core component of a post-Roe response from the Church, advocates at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering said on Jan. 30.

Catholic religious orders have played a major role in channeling life-saving humanitarian aid across Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, keeping hopes alive while continuing to minister to the country’s much-depleted Catholic communities.

Mary McClusky, assistant director of Project Rachel Ministry Development at the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, said that, despite the fact that the lives of both pregnant women and their children in domestic violence situations are often at risk, there is always hope.

The papal property at Castel Gandolfo, with its vast gardens and diverse livestock, will now be the home of a new scientific and educational center dedicated to promoting integral ecology, sustainability, and a circular and generative economy.

Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, made history Feb. 3 when they began an ecumenical pilgrimage to the world’s youngest nation, but one that has known war and violent conflicts for nine of the 11 years since independence.

While Pope Francis was “on mission” in Africa he urged consecrated persons to embody the church’s missionary spirit in spreading the Gospel.