OSV News

Pope Francis has appointed Gregg M. Caggianelli, as auxiliary bishop of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. 

Hope in Christ and that God's truth will prevail amid Russia's war on Ukraine was the message that Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the patriarchal head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, shared time and again during his Feb. 15-21 Jubilee Year pastoral visit to the United States.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to expand access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a practice the Catholic Church warns is enormously destructive to embryonic human life.

As Pope Francis continues to recover at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, Catholics in the pope's Diocese of Rome and around the world joined in prayer for his health.
 

Across the country, basilicas, churches and shrines have begun opening their doors to local pilgrims. These sites each have a unique history and hold significance in their local region, helping Catholics to encounter God in new ways.

The work of Catholic prison ministry has been mostly carried out quietly. So much so, that it has long been thought of as something only priests and religious do. This has meant that lay involvement "is almost nonexistent," according to Karen Clifton, executive coordinator of the online-based Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, or CMPC.

Thousands of people gathered Feb. 16 in the small village of Pyin Oo Lwin in Myanmar to pay their final respects to Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a priest who was found stabbed to death in a targeted attack.
 

After the M23 Rwanda-backed rebels Feb. 16 occupied Bukavu, a second major city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, Catholic bishops and experts are warning this offensive in the provinces of North and South Kivu signals a clear intent to establish a permanent foreign country presence in the region.
 

The designation, granted by the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education, means a university must meet rigorous criteria, such as spending at least $50 million on research and grants and having at least 70 research doctorates on average awarded in a single year to achieve R1.

A diverted trip, a grounded flight and an unexpected stay in Canada showed that "Jesus ... is in charge, not us," said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York in a Feb. 15 homily.

Ongoing uncertainty about funding from the National Institutes of Health could imperil medical research at academic institutions all over the country, including Catholic institutions, multiple sources told OSV News.

The U.S. bishops' migration chair called recent comments by Vice President JD Vance about the church's work with migrants "a tremendous mischaracterization" while speaking at an event in the nation's capital Feb. 12. But he also invited Vance to sit down and talk with him to set the record straight.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund, known as UNICEF, sexual violence against minors grew 1,000% between 2023 and 2024 — "a staggering" number, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said Feb. 7.

In the lead up to the 20th anniversary of the death of Sister Stang, who is considered by many as a "Martyr of the Amazon," a relic containing blood-soaked soil from the site of her murder was enshrined at the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island in Rome on Jan. 10.

The Feb. 8 statement from the foreign ministry of the regime accused the Vatican of using its "websites and platforms" to transmit statements "that constitute an insulting aggravation for the Sovereignty and Dignity of the Nicaraguan State."

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey announced he has engaged a law firm to investigate whether the current president of Seton Hall University, Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly, "acted appropriately" regarding disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued layoff notices to about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office on Feb. 7 after it stopped receiving reimbursements from the federal government for its work with refugees who qualify for federal assistance, per an internal memo.

Sunday Mass attendance in person at Catholic churches in the U.S. is back to pre-pandemic levels — although just under one quarter of the nation's Catholics are in the pews on a regular weekly basis.

This year, in addition to a charitable donation, there has been some talk of cheesesteaks — a culinary delight that originated in Philadelphia — heading to the Midwest should the Chiefs capture an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl.

For decades, Altadena has been a diverse hamlet that boasted higher than average Black home ownership, thriving Black small businesses, and churches with ministries that specifically serve Black Catholics. But now, in the wake of such devastation, local leaders recognize Altadena faces a daunting challenge: retaining its identity in the face of a very real chasm between residents' desire to stay, and the financial ability to stay.