OSV News

Burch, who lives in a Chicago suburb, is a co-founder of CatholicVote, a political organization that backed Trump for president.

"The Nicaraguan Church, even amidst adversities, has stood by those who suffer the most: the poor, the exiled, and those who have been victims of injustice," Bishop Silvio Jose Báez Ortega said.

The court order resolved a misdemeanor battery charge that was brought against Fr. Carlos Martins, following an incident during a relic exposition held in November 2024 at a parish in Joliet, Illinois.

Catholic Relief Services and its on-the-ground partners have managed to deliver aid to 1.7 million people in Gaza since 2023, according to new data.

As violence and starvation deepen in Gaza, the pastor of the area's only Catholic Church told a pontifical charity, "We remain in the hands of the Lord."

The platform allows both individuals and groups to offset some of their carbon footprint, encouraging lifestyle changes among members.

The 60-year-old diocesan priest allegedly struck the 68-year-old victim with an axe and set him on fire following a dispute over a property donation deal.

The professors have raised concerns about what they say was confusion and ambiguity caused by some of the late pope's actions and writings.

An Israel Defense Forces investigation concluded that the strike on the Holy Family Parish compound on July 17 was the result of an accidental mortar round that veered off course during "operational activity" by IDF troops in the area of Gaza City, the IDF said in a July 23 statement.

The Trump administration on July 22 said the United States would withdraw from the United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO, a group that has partnered with the Holy See on human development and cultural heritage projects.

In Bangladesh, grief and shock gripped the capital, Dhaka, after a military jet crashed into Milestone School and College on July 21, killing at least 31 and injuring more than 170.

On July 19, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora, Fr. Diarmuid Hogan, announced in a statement that the remains of the disgraced bishop had been removed after a "significant consensus emerged around the unique role of a Cathedral as a place of unity rather than division, healing rather than hurt and peace rather than disquiet."

The cardinal shared his thoughts as part of the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War, held at the University of Chicago July 14-16. The three-day gathering saw some 20 Nobel laureates and 60 nuclear experts convene to discuss policy recommendations for mitigating the threat of nuclear war.

Fr. Alphonsus Afina, a Nigerian priest who served in the Diocese of Fairbanks Alaska, was abducted June 1, 2025, by Islamist militants in his home country. Aid to the Church in Need International told OSV News July 21 the priest is now free. 

Catholic intellectuals of the time were already engaging with evolutionary theory in a more open-minded way. That willingness to dialogue with modern science had roots in the thought of Pope Leo XIII.

Fr. Gabriel Romanelli described the carnage from a recent shelling of his parish and asked the universal church community for prayers. "Let's try to convince the whole world to end this war," he said.

Newly installed Bishop Mark Eckman of Pittsburgh has expressed his "great sorrow" over "hateful vandalism" at one of his parish churches, which federal authorities are now investigating. Meanwhile, law enforcement in Kansas told OSV News they're closing in on suspects who ravaged and scrawled swastikas on a parish building in that state.

As alarming sectarian violence swept through Syria in the third week of July, Christian communities in the region experienced a new wave of persecution. Attacks on the country's Christian, Druze and Alawite communities were perpetrated mainly by Islamist jihadists.

From Boston to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, faithful across the nation are reaching out to bring material and spiritual aid to those impacted by the devastating July 4 flash floods in the Texas Hill Country.