Nicaragua's government ups Catholic persecution with secret trial convictions
(OSV News) -- Four clergymen, two seminarians and a diocesan journalist were convicted in Nicaragua on charges of conspiracy to undermine national integrity...
Read More(OSV News) -- Four clergymen, two seminarians and a diocesan journalist were convicted in Nicaragua on charges of conspiracy to undermine national integrity...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Marriage is not a ceremony, a social event, a mere formality or an abstract ideal, Pope Francis said. Marriage, according to Christian...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The religious-order brothers, sisters and priests and the hermits, monks and consecrated virgins who serve God and the Catholic Church...
Read MoreROME (OSV News) -- Pope Benedict XVI's biographer revealed that the late pontiff for years suffered from insomnia and exhaustion, which ultimately led...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ukraine's religious leaders asked Pope Francis to visit Kyiv, said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, the head of the...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Considered one of Caravaggio's best masterpieces, "The Entombment of Christ" was covetingly confiscated by the French for its newly...
Read More(OSV News) -- A Moroccan national is under arrest after a horrific attack in several Catholic churches in the southern Spanish city of Algeciras, killing...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The world's religious traditions and their followers are called to offer wisdom to the world and to "infuse it with a spirit of warmth,...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Public criticism by cardinals and bishops is annoying -- "like a rash that bothers you a bit," Pope Francis said -- but differences...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As war ravages Ukraine, the country cannot be divided among religious confessions but must be united behind "mother Ukraine," Pope...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Conflict and division hurt the mission of the Knights of Malta, and craving for power creates distance from Christ, Pope Francis...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Having come to know Jesus through the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, Catholics are called to share with others the hope and joy...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians must not "put pressure on others" to convert or induce in them "feelings of guilt," but take a weight off their shoulders...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Germany's bishops do not have the authority to establish a permanent decision-making body of bishops and laypeople that top Vatican...
Read More(OSV News) -- Peru’s bishops pleaded for peace as violent protests against the country’s current president and legislature have claimed the lives of...
Read More(OSV News) -- The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has warned against moves by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government to outlaw Orthodox communities...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The media and the field of communications need to exercise more kindness and share the truth with charity, Pope Francis said."Kindness...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis did not need to launch listening sessions for the Synod of Bishops for people to discover there are tensions in the...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Word of God, which heals and raises people up, is meant for everyone, Pope Francis said. Jesus "wants to reach those far away,...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Lengthy, abstract homilies are "a disaster," so preaching should be limited to 10 minutes, Pope Francis said. Speaking off the cuff...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the Biden administration and state governments look at ways to expand or restrict access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court's...
Read MoreAMMAN, Jordan (OSV News) -- An ecumenical delegation of bishops from 11 countries participated in the annual pilgrimage of the Holy Land Coordination,...
Read MoreATCHISON, Kansas (OSV News) -- As Psalm 19 says, day in and day out, "the heavens declare the glory of God." But every now and then -- or sometimes every...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' fifth trip to the African continent will highlight gestures of peace and reconciliation, consoling the victims of violence...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis...
Read More(OSV News) -- Catholic aid organizations are warning that increasing attacks by Russian missiles are preventing supply access to Ukraine, after 44 civilians,...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis asked Cubans "to make present in their hearts" the actions and words of St. John Paul II during his visit to their nation...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Health care is not a luxury, it is a right that belongs to everyone, Pope Francis told health care workers. "A world that rejects...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- No physical limitation or setback can diminish the value of any human being because each person is a unique and beloved child of...
Read MoreNAIROBI, Kenya (OSV News) -- Deadly violence hit Christians in Africa Jan. 15, with a Catholic priest in northern Nigeria burned to death and as many as...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The call to faith in Jesus always is a call to service and mission, Pope Francis told seminarians, priests and staff of the Pontifical...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- St. John the Baptist is a model for Christian witness, leading others to Jesus and then stepping out of the way so they follow the...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The death of Australian Cardinal George Pell was a shock because just five days earlier he had concelebrated the funeral of Pope...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Francesca Chaouqui, convicted by a Vatican court in 2016 of leaking confidential Vatican documents, was back on the stand before...
Read MoreROME (CNS) -- The United States' chief advocate for religious freedom expressed his "disappointment" in the Vatican over its provisional agreement with...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will celebrate the fourth annual Sunday of the Word of God Jan. 22 and, like he did last year, will confer the ministries...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To understand the Gospel, its beauty and its power, people need to read it, Pope Francis said. "I invite you to rediscover the beauty...
Read MoreROME (CNS) -- Australian Cardinal George Pell, who died in Rome Jan. 10, never made a secret of his staunch adherence to established Catholic moral teaching...
Read More(OSV News) -- While teaching in a Louisiana public elementary school several years ago, Janice Henry was haunted by one particular student. "The child...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) – James Griffin, executive director of the Durandus Institute for Sacred Music & Liturgy, said the annual Week of Prayer for Christian...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis praised the late Australian Cardinal George Pell as a faithful servant of God and of the Catholic Church, who steadfastly...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI "spread and testified to" the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan....
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even though the computational power of "artificial intelligence" has been around for decades, the technology has advanced so rapidly...
Read MoreMANAGUA, Nicaragua (OSV News) -- A court ruled at a Jan. 10 hearing that a Nicaraguan bishop, who has been detained since August, will stand trial on the...
Read MoreLIMA, Peru (OSV News) -- Peru's bishops have called on the country's government to stop violence that claimed at least 18 lives in anti-government protests...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Sharing the faith is the "oxygen" that "invigorates and purifies" Christian life, Pope Francis said. Beginning a new series of catechesis...
Read More(OSV News) -- Australian Cardinal George Pell, former prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy and archbishop of Sydney and of Melbourne, died Jan....
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Jonathan Roumie, known for his role as "Jesus" in the television series The Chosen, and other Catholic speakers are in the lineup...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis criticized the use of artificial intelligence in ways that negatively affect the most vulnerable, specifically those...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The disappearance 40 years ago of Emanuela Orlandi has haunted her family, fueled conspiracy theories and provided grist for a recent...
Read More(OSV News) -- Buffalo Bills football player Damar Hamlin has united the nation and the world in prayer, supporters said at a Jan. 9 community vigil held...
Read More(OSV News) – "Lord, I ask that you take me out of here soon … I want to be with my mom and sister soon. Amen." The prayer of a migrant girl in Ciudad...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Pope Benedict XVI will be remembered as one of the Catholic Church's greatest theologians, said a former U.S. ambassador to the...
Read MoreROME (CNS) -- There can be no improvising or going it alone when it comes to preventing and handling cases of abuse in the Catholic Church, said U.S. Cardinal...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- "Peace requires before all else the defense of life," which is threatened by the "alleged 'right to abortion,'" Pope Francis told...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was elected Speaker of the House Jan. 7 after a tumultuous process that stretched across the first...
Read More(OSV News) -- Ukraine's Catholic military chaplains will eventually be "catalysts for the rebuilding" of their war-torn nation, said the president of the...
Read MoreROME (CNS) -- Soon after Pope Benedict XVI was laid to rest in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, an Italian publisher released early copies of a book...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With the same spirit and aims that behind his recent reform and reorganization of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis, as Bishop of Rome,...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will allow retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills in the United States for the first...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When the coffin containing the remains of Pope Benedict XVI was carried into St. Peter's Square, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -– Just before 7 a.m. Jan. 5, the dome of St. Peter's Basilica was so shrouded with fog that it was scarcely visible. Yet the sounds...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who had an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of Catholic faith, is likely to go...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Highlighting Pope Benedict XVI's great intellect, love and kindness, many of the world's political and religious leaders voiced their...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Tens of thousands of people streamed through St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI. While...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The theological writings and papal teaching of the late Pope Benedict XVI were and will continue to be a blessing to the Catholic...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI "spread and testified to" the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan....
Read More(OSV News) -- For Peter Seewald, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was someone "who is what he says and what he preaches." This not only mesmerized Seewald but...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Jan. 5 funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The consecrated women who cared for Pope Benedict XVI in his retirement gently stroked his hands before his body was carried on a...
Read MoreKRAKOW (OSV News) -- In interviews with OSV News, two cardinals pleased to call Pope Benedict XVI a friend reflected on his death and what the pope emeritus...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- It is "intolerable" that conflict and wars are still raging in Ukraine and other parts of the world, Pope Francis said on World Peace...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The best way to usher in a truly "new" year is to stop waiting for things to get better on their own, and instead recognize what...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI's final message to Catholics around the world was: "Stand firm in the faith! Do not let yourselves be confused!" Less...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Keeping his appointment to celebrate vespers as 2022 was ending, Pope Francis also paid tribute to his predecessor, Pope Benedict...
Read More(OSV News) -- On Dec. 31, the Vatican announced the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who left a lasting legacy over the course of his lifelong service...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In accordance with Pope Benedict XVI's wishes, his funeral and moments of prayer surrounding it will be simple, according to the...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Across the U.S., Catholic bishops called on the faithful to unite in mourning for retired Pope Benedict XVI, who died on the eve...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Highlighting Pope Benedict XVI's great intellect, love and kindness, many of the world's political and religious leaders voiced their...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Catholic leaders around the world who had been praying for retired Pope Benedict XVI reacted with sorrow to news of his death Dec....
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who had an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of Catholic faith, is likely to go...
Read MoreWASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict came to the United States for a visit to Washington and New York spanning six days in mid-April 2008, some news...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In trying to help people understand how belief in God is a natural part of life and provides grounding for the values that protect...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Like any bona fide cat lover, Pope Benedict XVI's face would light up and his hand would reach out at the sight of a fluffy feline...
Read MorePope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a leading theologian of the 20th century and the first pope to resign from office in nearly 600 years, has died at the age...
Read MoreIn a special Mass for Benedict XVI at the Basilica of St. John Lateran on Friday afternoon, the faithful joined in prayer for the ailing pope emeritus. The...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Two days after Pope Francis told people retired Pope Benedict was "very sick" and in need of prayers, the Vatican said he again had...
Read MoreKYIV, Ukraine (CNS) -- Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Most of the 18 Catholic missionaries murdered in 2022 were not carrying out high-risk missions when they were assassinated but were...
Read MoreNAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- Eritrean authorities have freed Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim after 75 days in prison. Bishop Tsalim, the 52-year-old...
Read MoreVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will soon pack his bags for his first foreign trip of 2023, a year that promises to be as busy as ever. The pope, who...
Read MoreDespite the continued threat of terrorist attacks, Christian communities across Pakistan celebrated Christmas Sunday in much the usual way, with great...
Read More