Peruvian bishops’ visit to the tomb of the apostles made global news for a different reason: an unusual guest at their lunch and fraternal affection from the pope who is claimed by Peruvian faithful as their own.

In a message to the Archdiocese of Milan, Pope Leo XIV expressed his hope that the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games will be an occasion of solidarity and bridge-building between peoples and cultures.

As British Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to China amid renewed calls to press Beijing on human rights, Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned Catholic media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, marked the moment in prayer at a snowy Washington Mass.

OSV News spoke with Cardinal Tobin Jan. 26 about his concerns for the country and his call to action.

At Jesuit-run Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, a group of non-tenure track professors currently accuse its administration of union busting in violation of Catholic social teaching, while the administration charges it has the right to invoke a religious exemption to bargaining with a “third party” labor union in order to protect the school’s “distinctive Catholic mission” and ensure the school can financially continue to serve students for generations to come.

A federal appeals court ruled late Jan. 28 that the Trump administration acted illegally when it ended legal protections for hundreds of thousands of people from Venezuela and Haiti, both predominantly Catholic countries, to remain in the United States without risk of deportation due to dangerous conditions in their respective homelands.

A Houston-area Catholic school science teacher said the Challenger disaster remains one of the most defining moments of her early understanding of science and human exploration, shaping both her worldview and her vocation as an educator.

As fears of a return to full-scale war in South Sudan escalate, Catholic bishops in the country have reiterated their call for peace and dialogue, amid fighting and mobilization in parts of the country.

Asked about the deadly shootings by U.S. federal agents in Minneapolis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the violence unfolding there is “unacceptable.”

The increasing number of people who do not see the Gospel as a fundamental resource for their life should inspire — not discourage — Catholics in rediscovering the joy of evangelization, Pope Leo XIV said.