The Food and Drug Administration announced July 13 it approved the sale of a birth control pill without a prescription for the first time in the United States, a move that will increase the availability of oral contraception and impact ongoing debates about abortion policy post-Dobbs.

The European Commission and Europa Nostra foundation has honored Poland’s medieval altarpiece for outstanding conservation. The Wit Stwosz (Veit Stoss) altar is widely regarded as a Gothic masterpiece.

President Joe Biden defended what he called a “very difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of that country, weapons the Vatican opposes.

Ukrainian military chaplains told OSV News they’re standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their troops across a long front line, while readying themselves for a post-war ministry of healing throughout their nation.

Violence and conflict leave people’s homes uninhabitable and force them to flee, said experts while discussing the root causes of migration.

With Maine set to broadly expand access to abortion, pro-life advocates in that state are taking “a moment to regroup,” said an official from the Diocese of Portland.

On behalf of the bishops of the United States, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered his congratulations and prayers July 9 upon Pope Francis’ announcement of the creation of 21 new cardinals.

Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals, including U.S.-born Archbishop Robert F. Prevost, who took the helm at the Dicastery for Bishops in April, and French Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Since 2016, Rachel L. Swarns has been researching Georgetown University’s involvement in the slave trade, including the 1838 sale of 272 enslaved people to help pay off debts the Jesuit priests incurred in running the university.

Honoring Indigenous Catholics’ spirituality and traditions, the Tekakwitha Conference July 19-23 is expected to draw hundreds of attendees from North America and beyond.