OSV News

Amid the worst security crisis in Haiti in several years — one that has been particularly hard for church members — Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned after weeks of mounting chaos in the Caribbean nation.

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, has been named the recipient of the University of Notre Dame's 2024 Laetare Medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics.

The church has opened an inquiry into a "distressing" allegation of an historical offense against New Zealand's Cardinal John Dew, retired archbishop of Wellington, after a police investigation closed without any charges filed. Dew, 75, has strenuously denied the allegation and will remain suspended from ministry during the "Vox Estis Lux Mundi" investigation.

"My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy, a future based on core values that defined America: honesty, decency, dignity, equality," President Biden said during his March 7 address.

Biden said, "the issue facing our nation isn't how old we are -- it's how old our ideas are."

"Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas," he said. "But you can't lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back. To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be."

Jesuit Father Frank R. Haig, a beloved professor of physics at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a former president of two Jesuit universities, died Feb. 28. He was 95 and had been living in the Manresa Jesuit Community in Philadelphia.

Four major nonprofits recently launched a joint effort to counteract rising polarization and isolation in the U.S., including Catholic Charities USA, the organization dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States. For the Team Up Project, a new initiative to foster service and human connection, Catholic Charities has partnered with Habitat for Humanity International, Interfaith America and YMCA of the USA. 

A historic place of prayer in Portland sustained significant damage to one of its buildings in a Feb. 28 vandalism attack. Security cameras, religious objects and windows were smashed in the monastery of The Grotto, the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother, a 54-acre shrine operated by the Order of Friar Servants of Mary.

Pope Francis' goal of synodality for the Catholic Church — with people from different backgrounds, circumstances and experiences coming together to listen to and learn from each other about how to reflect Christ's Gospel in today's world — unfolded in a Feb. 28 podcast and dialogue featuring Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, joined by four Catholic young adults.

Miners were still being evacuated over a week after a Venezuelan gold mine collapsed Feb. 20, killing at least 16 miners and leaving hundreds without work.

Ivan Cantu was executed Feb. 28 by the state of Texas despite claims that the Texan's 2001 conviction for killing James Mosqueda and Amy Kitchen, his cousin and his cousin's fiancee, was based on false testimony.

Synodality is an issue that everyone in the church needs to understand and embrace, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, told an audience at the University of Notre Dame.

The announcement that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Archbishop Andrzej Dziega of Szczecin-Kamien with no explanation in a Feb. 24 statement from the apostolic nunciature caused a bittersweet reaction in Poland.

The ability of Catholic and other faith-based groups to "meet migrants' basic human needs" at the U.S.-Mexico border is a religious liberty issue and must be defended, U.S. bishops said in recent statements.

Catholic leaders and local officials condemned Feb. 23 an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants and asylum-seekers at the Southern border, calling it an abuse of power and a violation of religious liberty.

On Feb. 20, the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the U.S. announced that their Metropolia Humanitarian Aid Fund has been restructured as the "Healing of Wounds of the War in Ukraine Fund." 

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos qualify as children under state law has raised complex legal questions about artificial reproductive practices opposed by the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna warned of schism as German bishops want to keep to their reform course despite the latest letter from Rome, which halted the vote on the statutes of a Synodal Committee.

A senior Russian Catholic has urged church leaders abroad to commemorate the opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, as armed police dispersed citizens mourning his death at age 47 in a remote prison camp.

The Vatican's document permitting blessings for those in "irregular situations," including same-sex relationships, has continued to spark controversy and varied responses from bishops around the world.

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak warns that failing to support Ukraine as Russia's war machine relentlessly presses its attack will have a vast impact on religious freedom in the region as well as on global security.