As the nation marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Jan. 11, women religious in the U.S. are combating modern slavery with prayer and education.

Amid an unprecedented wave of violence in Ecuador, the South American country’s bishops’ conference issued a statement on Jan. 9 asking the people to unite against the disturbance caused by criminal gangs, whose operations were defined as acts of “treason against the nation.”

Catholics warn that Syrians are on the brink of starvation as the United Nations food program cuts off its assistance in the country this month.

One of the most dangerous vices is gluttony, turning people who are meant to be custodians of creation into mere consumers and even exploiters and predators, Pope Francis said.

Societies must consider how their people can share challenges and resources, the pope told representatives of a dialogue project bringing together socialists, Marxists and Christians.

The day after being released from Rome’s Santo Spirito Hospital, Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton, N.J., had a heart-to-heart moment with Pope Francis.

As immigration shapes up to become a key election issue in 2024, the church must remain steadfast in its advocacy for migrants, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told OSV News.

Poland’s bishops have pledged dialogue with their country’s new liberal government, but leading Catholics warned that government plans for rapid secularizing change could spark conflict as the ruling coalition plans to limit religious classes in public schools and abolish the state Church Fund.

Two Eastern Catholic bishops have issued statements with in-depth theological and canonical reasons for their rejection of a controversial Vatican document on pastoral blessings for same-sex couples and other unmarried couples.

As U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has insisted that Palestinians must not be pressured into leaving Gaza and must be allowed to return to their homes once conditions allow, Christians in the Holy Land worry the Israeli statements may threaten other small communities in the Holy Land, including theirs.