When Katie Chihoski walked the graduation stage at the University of Mary April 27, she was holding both her hard-earned bachelor’s degree in social work and her 18-month-old daughter Lucia.

For more than 700 years, the Catholic Church has celebrated “jubilee” or “holy” years as special times to renew people’s faith and experience God’s forgiveness, particularly by going on pilgrimage.

Pope Francis’ document proclaiming the Holy Year 2025 draws special attention to the ecumenical possibilities of the celebration, especially since the jubilee coincides with celebrations of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

The document, called a “bull of indiction,” specifies that the holy year will open at the Vatican Dec. 24 this year and close Jan. 6, 2026, the feast of Epiphany. Pope Francis also asked bishops around the world to inaugurate the Holy Year in their dioceses Dec. 29 this year and celebrate the conclusion of the Jubilee locally Dec. 28, 2025.

A federal appeals court May 8 ruled in favor of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, protecting religious schools’ freedom to hire schoolteachers who will uphold their religious beliefs.

Abortion advocates in at least 15 states are seeking to qualify ballot measures for November that would enshrine abortion protections in law or their state constitutions, and some efforts recently got a step closer.

What some are now calling the most beautiful church in Cuba is a newly restored Catholic university chapel in Havana abruptly abandoned during the Cuban Revolution and in disuse for some 60 years.

More than 2,500 Catholic bishops, priests, women religious, academics, laypeople and Catholic groups have called for a cease-fire in Gaza in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders.

Those who took part in this year’s March for Life in Dublin May 6 were urged to “think pro-life” in next month’s local and European Parliament elections. Organizers said that “thousands” participated in the march, which took place on a bank holiday.

– The need for quality journalism and media ethics is increasingly high, experts underlined at the academic conference “Media for Man” organized by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland. “At this point, it is a matter of people’s security,” the organizers said.