Israeli police arrested an American Jewish tourist Feb. 2 for vandalizing a statue of Jesus at the Franciscan Church of Flagellation in the Old City.

Speakers and participants at the 2023 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering explored how social justice ministries of the church are often intertwined, from how the sin of racism impacts housing to how economic and social policies that uplift women and families can save lives from abortion and other forms of violence.

An independent commission just published the results of a two-year study providing shocking details about the background, pseudo-spirituality and “mechanisms of abuse and control” of the late Jean Vanier and his mentor, the late Dominican Father Thomas Philippe.

During a Jan. 29 plenary session at the 2023 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering in Washington, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio made an impassioned plea to treat all people with dignity, calling gun violence a pro-life issue.

The Catholic Church in Sydney bid farewell to its former archbishop, Cardinal George Pell, in a funeral at times solemn, reverent, defiant and sorrowful, shot through with wry Australian humor, and attended by mourners from all walks of life.

The hands that will save Congo and build a future worthy of its people belong to the Congolese people, to each one of them, but especially the young, Pope Francis said.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act is “a modest but important step” to make the long-standing policy of preventing federal taxpayer funding of elective abortions permanent and government-wide, said the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee chairman.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops affirmed its “united position” in opposition to taxpayer funding for abortion procedures, invoking the teaching of Pope Francis, following recent remarks by President Joe Biden.

Victims of violence in eastern Congo told Pope Francis horrifying stories of watching their families be slaughtered or of being kidnapped or raped repeatedly by militia members.

A priest who offered up his suffering from cancer for the sake of clerical abuse victims said he has experienced a miraculous healing following a June 2022 pilgrimage to the Marian shrine at Lourdes, France.