OSV News

The Nov. 6-17 trip will be the first papal visit to Latin America of Leo's pontificate and his longest international journey to date. 

After a man was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, Bishop Daniel Garcia denounced the shooting and called for "a viable immigration policy that respects the rule of law while recognizing the dignity of every person."

Cardinal Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade is urging Western governments not to let recent controversy over the funeral of convicted Bosnian Serb wartime leader Ratko Mladic derail Serbia's ties with Europe.

In a letter dated Sept. 8 and addressed to the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, the pope cited the example of St. Turibius of Mogrovejo, the Spanish missionary bishop who evangelized Peru in the 16th century, and urged them to place the good of the faithful above all else.

More than a dozen U.S. bishops met with members of Congress on Sept. 16 to urge lawmakers to enact effective safety guardrails on artificial intelligence and to advocate for the passage of a bill that aims to protect children online.

Hate speech "contradicts the commandment to love one's neighbor," said the Vatican's top diplomat to the United Nations.

Bishop Oscar Cantú discusses the vision for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops's task force on artificial intelligence as well as his concerns regarding the rapid development of AI and its impact upon humanity.

President Donald Trump's new appointees to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom include Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, the commission said Sept. 16. Spokespersons for USCRIF and other religious freedom advocates previously told OSV News they were eager for Trump to make nominations to the commission after several previous commissioners reached the end of their terms in May.

A new Vatican document, the result of a collaboration among three dicasteries, affirms Vatican II's landmark 1965 teaching on the church's relationship with the Jewish people and those of other faiths.

Amid recent calls from several artificial intelligence leaders for a slowdown in the technology's development, the nation's Catholic bishops are engaging tech leaders and lawmakers to address concerns over AI and online child safety. 

Detainees at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" were held in outdoor cages about the same size as telephone booths, according to a new report by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.

"Millions of Catholics from the three countries are part of one same church and share one same faith," the bishops said in a statement. Borders between nations "need not become borders between hearts."

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has welcomed the defeat of a bill to legalize assisted suicide.

A St. Paul, Minnesota-based law firm announced a new abuse settlement with the Chicago Archdiocese, and also unveiled a national database of clergy it says are credibly abused of sexual abuse.

Theologians and representatives of Catholic advocacy organizations and religious orders described pastoral challenges of some hardline immigration enforcement policies as among the concerns Catholics should consider.

"[T]the Church's objection  … is an effort to stop the State from compelling Catholic health care providers to violate their conscience," Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said in a statement.

The news was announced by both TPMS USA and the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, where Landry is incardinated, in separate statements issued Sept. 11.

On Sept. 11, 2001 — the date of the worst terrorist attack in American history, when four hijacked jets became deadly weapons — there was no shortage of heroic first responders who confronted danger instead of avoiding it.

Since he lost his life, Franciscan friar and New York City Fire Department Chaplain Fr. Mychal Judge has been hailed as a hero, suggested for sainthood, and praised as a selfless friend not only to first responders, but also to the poor, sick and forgotten of the Big Apple's sometimes tough streets.

"Faith does not allow us to stop at remembrance," Archbishop Ronald Hicks of New York said in his homily at his first Sept. 11 memorial Mass since becoming New York's archbishop.