Data shows that Christian persecution is on the rise globally — but that repression remains largely overlooked in the news cycle, one expert told OSV News.

Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia announced Dec. 1 the appointment of Heather Huot as that archdiocese’s secretary for Catholic Human Services, overseeing three agencies — Catholic Social Services, Catholic Housing and Community Services and Nutritional Development Services — that combine to form the largest faith-based human services provider in southeastern Pennsylvania.

As the new year begins, Pope Francis will be the oldest reigning pope since the early 1900s and the third oldest in history.

In the past 12 months, an extraordinary level of nationwide activity — organizing, strikes, negotiations and new contracts — has signaled increased influence for American labor unions, which once counted 21 million U.S. workers among their ranks.

From Ukraine to Nigeria, and from Nicaragua to the Holy Land, 2023 was full of tragic situations that deeply affected the church and faithful. OSV News revisited four places clinging to hope that the new year will bring an improvement in the lives of people living in societies torn by conflict and persecution.

At Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Father Peter Zalewski is a busy and beloved pastor, tending to the activities of his church community and the local Catholic school, the largest primary school in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.

The pro-life movement had a mixed record of success in its first full calendar year without Roe v. Wade in place, losing an Ohio ballot measure but also seeing the passage of new legislation limiting the procedure in some states and new streams of support for pregnancy resource centers.

On Dec. 31, 2022, the Catholic world stopped as Pope Benedict XVI passed away on the last day of the year, leaving behind an enormous theological legacy.

The coming calendar year will include the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that begins mid-May and the National Eucharistic Congress in July, two large-scale efforts that lead into the revival’s final year, the Year of Going Out on Mission, which ends on Pentecost 2025.

The Vatican publishing house announced it will release a book of some 130 homilies given by the late Pope Benedict XVI at private Sunday Masses — 30 given while he was pope and more than 100 given to members of his household once he retired.