Jesuit Fr. Gregory Bonfiglio, pastor of St. Ignatius Parish in San Francisco, celebrates Mass in late April 2026. Bonfiglio wrote that the parish paying its assessment for the archdiocese's settlement of clergy sex abuse cases was "an act of solidarity with survivors." (Courtesy St. Ignatius Parish)

San Francisco parishes hit with massive bills for sex abuse settlement

News

One pastor called the assessments "an act of solidarity with survivors and a recognition that, as members of this Body, we share responsibility for repairing, as best we can, grievous harm done by the Church."

The Latest

Conversion of heart needed to end wars, heal Earth, pope says

Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

Colombia: Bogotá archdiocese launches 'spiritual first aid' mission to quake-hit cities

Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

Vietnamese sisters help former leprosy patients reclaim their dignity

Joachim Pham

Editors' Choice

In Focus

During summer lull, conservative bishops call for more Latin Mass, less synodality

The news vacuum created during Leo's absence gave conservative voices abundant material to shape the summer's Catholic news cycle.

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#1
Amy-Jill Levine elected first Jewish president of Catholic Biblical Association

The veteran New Testament scholar has written and edited widely-read works including The Misunderstood Jew, The Bible With and Without Jesus and The Jewish Annotated New Testament.

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#2
San Antonio priest laicized, excommunicated after calling Popes Francis and Leo 'usurpers'

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Pope Leo names 3 Notre Dame-affiliated experts to advise major Vatican office

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Dominican Fr. Brian J. Shanley, president of St. John's University, addresses graduating students during commencement ceremonies May 17, 2026, at the Vincentian school's campus in the Jamaica section of the New York borough of Queens. (OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz)

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Vatican

Conversion of heart needed to end wars, heal Earth, pope says

War and environmental destruction are not just political failures, but symptoms of a deep moral crisis in the human heart, Pope Leo XIV said in his message for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for Creation.

Pope Leo XIV speaks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun during a private meeting at the Vatican Aug. 20, 2026. (OSV News/Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti)
Vatican News

Pope Leo meets Lebanese president as Vatican cites concerns over Israel-Lebanon deal

Following Pope Leo XIV's meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, the Vatican said Aoun's subsequent meetings with Vatican diplomats focused on the recent agreement signed by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon.

ByJustin McLellan
The sun sets over the main building and Basilica of the Sacred Heart steeple on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Nov. 23, 2025. (OSV News/Courtesy University of Notre Dame/Matt Cashore)
Vatican News

Pope Leo names 3 Notre Dame-affiliated experts to advise major Vatican office

The first U.S.-born pope on Tuesday tapped three experts from U.S. institutions to advise the Catholic Church's central office dedicated to promoting social justice. All three are affiliated with the University of Notre Dame.

ByJustin McLellan
Pope Leo XIV greets people in Piazza della Liberta in Castel Gandolfo near Rome Aug. 16, 2026. After leading the Angelus prayer, the pope decried the violence in the West Bank and called on the international community to "work toward advancing the two-state solution." (OSV News/Vatican Media/Simone Risoluti)
Vatican News

Pope Leo calls for end to West Bank violence, pursuit of two-state solution

The pope's appeal came amid reports of violent attacks by Israeli settlers, including in Taybeh, one of the last remaining Christian villages in the West Bank.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

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Conversion of heart needed to end wars, heal Earth, pope says

War and environmental destruction are not just political failures, but symptoms of a deep moral crisis in the human heart, Pope Leo XIV said in his message for the 2026 World Day of Prayer for Creation.

Colombia: Bogotá archdiocese launches 'spiritual first aid' mission to quake-hit cities

Dozens of clergy from the Archdiocese of Bogotá embarked on a five-day pastoral mission to cities in Colombia devastated by the Aug. 10 earthquake.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News
Students at the University of Dayton help grow a variety of produce on the campus' Flyer Farm, a 3-acre urban agriculture project. Most of what grows at the farm is given away to feed the hungry across the Dayton region. (Courtesy of University of Dayton)

University of Dayton returns to its roots with campus farm that feeds its Ohio community

The small operation at Flyer Farm provides a learning lab for students and demonstrates how urban agriculture can be done "just about anywhere you can find space." 

ByBrian Roewe

Latin America: Bishops express solidarity with Colombia as death toll surpasses 250

Messages of solidarity from bishops' conferences across Latin America poured in as rescue workers race against time to save victims still trapped beneath the rubble in multiple cities across Colombia.

ByJunno Arocho Esteves, OSV News

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Culture

Cam Obi, a music producer and musician who has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, converted to Catholicism at the Easter Vigil. He was baptized at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Courtesy of Cam Obi)

Grammy-winning rap music producer Cam Obi on his conversion to Catholicism

The producer, rapper, husband and father has been on a spiritual journey for several years, culminating in his conversion to Catholicism this year at the Easter Vigil. 

Julius Rinzel and Ivan Howe play teenage altar servers in "The Saviors," written by Bubba Weiler and directed by Jack Serio. The off-Broadway show is produced by the Atlantic Theater Company in New York City. (Ahron R. Foster)

In 'The Saviors,' a playwright makes space for questions of faith

Bubba Weiler's off-Broadway show is about two eighth-grade altar servers whose encounter with a homeless man in the church leaves them asking questions about Catholicism, God and, ultimately, themselves.  

ByJim McDermott
Sr. Sandra Smithson, a School Sister of St. Francis (School Sisters of St. Francis)
Book Reviews

New book explores life of Sr. Sandra Smithson, pioneering Black Catholic nun in Tennessee

The new text from journalist Theresa Laurence covers a woman who battled racism and educational neglect in Nashville for more than four decades.

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Sisters quietly shelter domestic abuse survivors in discreet Kenyan convent network

Operating outside the bureaucracy of Kenya's formal shelter system, at least 10 Catholic convents across Kenya have turned their peaceful residences into informal safe havens for domestic abuse survivors.

St. Paul de Chartres Srs. Marie Claire Tran Thi Tuyet (left) and Marie Monique Nguyen Thi Thanh talk with Teresa Nguyen Thi Duoc at her home in Da Nang on April 17, 2026. (Joachim Pham)

Vietnamese sisters help former leprosy patients reclaim their dignity

The country has made remarkable progress toward the disease. But former patients and their families still experience discrimination and hardship. 

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Sr. Margaret Ng of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus leads an awareness training session on human trafficking in Sydney, October 2025. (Courtesy of Margaret Ng)
Columns

In Australia, groups collaborate to fight human trafficking and to support survivors

As I work with trafficking survivors, I am often inspired by their courage and resilience and, for some, their trust in divine providence as they continue their journey to self-worth and wholeness.

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In Orlando, LCWR seeks a new harmony for the church

Former LCWR president Sr. Vicky Larson described each charism as a musical note: Each note has its own beauty, but we need melody and harmony as well.

BySr. Helga Leija

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