OSV News

The importance of continuity and diversity as well as the issues of war and peace were a main topic of conversation for the 133 cardinals as they gathered to vote in the conclave May 7-8, said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Peruvians have expressed pride and surprise in one of their own becoming pontiff. Augustinians in the country have expressed similar surprise — recalling Leo as an unassuming prelate, who prioritized the poor, sought unity in the Peruvian church and came to embrace the country.

As details of Pope Leo XIV's past life come to light, many are struck by his Chicago roots and his Chicago-ness.

Planned Parenthood's latest annual report shows an increase in abortions from the previous year's report, while also showing a $100 million increase in government funding amid an overall decrease in cancer screenings and prevention services.

In a statement provided to OSV News, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington said that it was "providing limited and temporary assistance to South Africans traveling through Dulles International Airport this week to final destinations elsewhere."

Thousands of Catholics packed the plaza outside the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Chiclayo in this northern Peruvian city to celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for an adoptive son: Pope Leo XIV.

"Bishop Prevost was never the kind of bishop who gave orders from behind a desk," said Janinna Sesa Córdova, who led Caritas Chiclayo from 2014 to 2024. "He was the face of Christ, the one who went out into the mud to help his people."

The new Roman pontiff — the vicar of Christ on earth —  attended high school in western Michigan. Born in Chicago in 1955, Pope Leo XIV spent most of his childhood in the greater Chicago area, but he attended high school at the now-closed St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, to be exact.

Full text of the first public homily of Pope Leo XIV, given at a Mass for the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel May 9, 2025.

Critics have expressed concern that the new law makes no exception for clergy-penitent privilege. 

The New York Assembly April 29 passed a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in the state, despite strong opposition from the state's Catholic bishops. The bishops are now calling on all Catholics to contact their state senators and urge them to vote against the Senate version of the bill passed by the Assembly.
 

As President Donald Trump reached the 100th day of his second term April 29, polls showed decreases in his approval ratings on job performance and key issues, including among Catholics overall.

Thousands gathered for a massive Mass outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires to remember the life and legacy of Pope Francis, whose ministry as archbishop in the Argentine capital of taking the church to the peripheries and prioritizing the poor became a template for his pontificate.

You can read the English translation of the prepared text of the homily, delivered in Italian by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square, April 26 at the Vatican.

Pope Francis' solemn funeral Mass will be broadcast and livestreamed by multiple media outlets April 26, providing several ways people can watch and participate in the funeral from around the world.

"How I would like a church that is poor and that is for the poor," Pope Francis told journalists March 16, 2013, three days after his election. St. Francis, he said, was "the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation."

While the fruits of the reforms made throughout his 12-year papacy are yet to be determined, what can't be denied is his pastoral approach that tried to place victims at the heart of the church's response to clergy sexual abuse.

Francis' devotion to San Lorenzo de Almagro isn't just a nostalgic footnote — it's a window into the soul of a pope who knew what it meant to love fiercely, hope deeply and stay loyal — win or lose.

The history of this church is rooted in the role of Mary as the Mother of God. Its story begins with a fourth-century legend.

In this cartoon by Joe Heller, Pope Francis continues to lead, his way.