OSV News

The U.S. strikes on — and announced temporary takeover of — Venezuela violate both the United Nations Charter and the Christian principles on which it is based, a University of Notre Dame scholar told OSV News.

The bishops of Kentucky and Wisconsin have joined similar efforts by bishops in a growing list of states to affirm the human dignity of migrants amid debates over immigration policy.

Pope Leo mourned those killed and consoled their families in a Jan. 2 telegram signed by Cardinal Piero Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state.

The decree, dated Dec. 23, noted the increase in immigration enforcement activities in the Diocese of Columbus has created "a rise in fear and anxiety" in its immigrant community.

Bishop Stanislav Szyrokoradiuk of Odesa-Simferopol said that people "who've taken power" in the U.S. aren't "interested in truth and justice."
 

When the Second Vatican Council opened in 1962, its proceedings were shrouded in secrecy. Then, unexpectedly, a mysterious byline appeared in The New Yorker: Xavier Rynne. In a series of explosive dispatches, the anonymous insider revealed the council's unseen conflicts — ultraconservative factions working to block reforms, curial power plays and intense exchanges shaping the church's future.

Jesuit priests and seminarians plus some laity found the remains of two women after they scoured an 80-mile stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert in a search for migrants, living or dead, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

Bishop Michael Martin wrote that his guidelines are to strengthen unity in worship, uphold the church's liturgical norms and encourage active participation by the faithful.

People have a deep desire to return to their lives despite the dire and complex situation in Gaza following two years of war, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said at an annual Christmas press conference on Dec. 22.

"We cannot forget what happened ... But now we have to look forward," the patriarch said. "We will rebuild. We will rebuild our schools. We (will) rebuild our houses ... our life. We are rooted here and we remain here."

Like Pope Leo XIV, the new leader enjoys riding horses. He is a native of Zambia's Chingola but was brought up in Kent, south east England. 

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerald Barbarito of Palm Beach, Florida, and named as his successor Fr. Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez, currently pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Corona (Queens), New York. The same day, the pope appointed the auxiliary bishop of Phoenix — Msgr. Peter Dai Bui, currently vicar for the clergy in the capital of Arizona, assigning him the titular see of Ausafa.

With Communion bowls in hand, a group of California bishops walked through the barbed wire gates of the ICE Processing Center and offered Jesus to the men locked inside. This moment of the Mass, celebrated Dec. 10 outside the town of Adelanto in the Mojave Desert, was deeply emotional for both the bishops and the roughly 300 detainees present.

"How can any society have credibility to tell young people or people with depression that suicide is never the answer, while telling elderly and sick people that it is a compassionate choice to be celebrated?" bishops write.

"We want to replant hope within the Christian community over here in the Holy Land," said Anton Asfar, secretary-general of Caritas Jerusalem.

At a Dec. 8 press conference in Nashville, leaders noted that Pope Leo XIV — as well as his predecessors St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis — has expressed opposition to the death penalty.

Fernando Mendoza shared a touching salute in Spanish to his parents and grandparents, who all came to the United States from Cuba.

"I'm worried about the tone of the country, because it goes far beyond the campaign," Cardinal Fernando Chomali of Santiago said after meeting candidates prior to the first round of voting in November. "I'm worried about the tone on social media, I'm worried about the tone in the streets."

Several parishes and schools across Western Washington have shut down operations due to historic flooding in the state.

Hong Kong's prominent Catholic, media tycoon and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai has been convicted of national security offenses under the city's controversial national security law.