OSV News

As the death toll in Lebanon continues to rise following devastating strikes by the Israeli military, the Vatican's representative in the country said the bombardment "is not the right path."

Fr. Arul Carasala died of his injuries within hours of the shooting, and his alleged shooter turned himself in almost immediately. Carasala's parishioners and Catholics across the archdiocese were left trying to make sense of his untimely death.

It's the landmark court decision some are calling Big Tech's "tobacco industry moment": a verdict that — just like the misrepresentation that cigarettes are safe — indicates social media companies may have a lot to answer for to the public.

NASA's first crewed lunar flyby in half a century has sparked wonder, reflection and prayer — both in space and on the ground.

Pope Leo XIV sent Easter greetings to Catholics in Gaza as they celebrate Easter amid the fear and uncertainty of war, said Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Parish.

"I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation," Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, told "Face the Nation."

After a major diplomatic incident that prevented him from entering the holy site on March 29 to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, access was granted for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Church leaders in Jerusalem expressed sorrow over the news of the passage by the Israeli Knesset of a death penalty law — by hanging — for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks on Israelis, noting that Easter, which celebrates life, represents the opposite.

The messages come as some Catholic and Christian influencers broadly peddle antisemitic tropes — including the charge of deicide, or the alleged collective Jewish responsibility for the death of Christ — repudiated by the Church in the wake of the Council of Trent and even more explicitly at the Second Vatican Council.

Trump's presence for oral arguments in the case, Trump v. Barbara, marked the first time a sitting president has attended oral arguments at the Supreme Court, according to records from the high court and the nonprofit Supreme Court Historical Society.

Just over three years to the date after filing for Chapter 11 protection under the crush of nearly 440 Child Victims Act claims, the Diocese of Albany reached a $148 million settlement agreement with the survivors of sexual abuse by diocesan priests and others on March 27.

It will be the first time that a pope has carried the cross for every station in the Via Crucis since the tradition was revived at the site more than six decades ago.

A Catholic university in Qatar has closed its building as war in the Middle East continues — with the Iranian regime now explicitly naming American universities as "legitimate targets" in retaliation for strikes on two schools in Iran.

Catholics in Chicago have expressed sympathy and sorrow over the death of a Loyola University Chicago student who was shot and killed March 19 near the school campus.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said an agreement has been reached with Israeli authorities to allow Holy Week and Easter celebrations to take place at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher after they were initially barred from celebrating Palm Sunday.

"As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps," Pope Leo XIV said.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Fr. Francesco Ielpo, the custos of the Holy Land, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by Israeli police on Palm Sunday, the Latin patriarchate said.

"The joy and the strength of our witness come from redemption, in every place and at every time," he said. 

On March 25 the Archdiocese of Denver welcomed its ninth bishop and sixth archbishop, Archbishop James R. Golka, amid the devoted prayers and ecstatic applause of thousands gathered at the CoBank Arena at the National Western Complex in Denver.

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers and encouragement as Archbishop Sarah Mullally began her ministry as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury and the first woman to lead the Anglican Communion.