OSV News

If Russian President Vladimir Putin prevails in his invasion of Ukraine, religious freedom in the country would be curtailed, Ukrainian faith leaders said at a recent event at the United States Institute of Peace.

Awake Milwaukee, an independent nonprofit that works to heal sexual abuse in both the Milwaukee Archdiocese and the Catholic Church as a whole, has chosen several patron saints as guides on the journey to recovery.

It took 10 months for the Vatican to reopen Fr. Marko Rupnik's case -- from the first reports on the case of Slovenian mosaic artist in December 2022 and the first alleged victims' testimonies at that time, to dismissal of the priest from the Jesuit order in July, to public outrage after his incardination into a Slovenian diocese.

Catholic Charities USA, the organization dedicated to carrying out the domestic humanitarian work of the Catholic Church in the United States, responded Oct. 31 to "disturbing" recent remarks by a social media influencer threatening its staff.

In these times of violence and hatred around the world, following St. Thérèse of Lisieux's confidence is crucial to the world regaining balance, said the bishop of Lisieux as the month of October, the busiest one in the French northern Normandy town of the saint known as the "Little Flower," comes to a close.

As the world prayed for peace in the Holy Land Oct. 27, Pope Francis called for the war to halt and prayers to continue during the Angelus Oct. 29, as the death toll in Gaza passed 8,000 and Israeli troops gradually increased their ground activity in the Gaza Strip, without calling it an "invasion."

During a Mass two days after a mass shooter killed 18 people in Lewiston, Maine, the bishop of Portland reminded people that God is with them during difficult times. 

Victims' advocates are expressing dismay at the fact that Rupnik was readmitted to a diocese in the first place, and debate continues over whether his artwork should be withdrawn from churches worldwide.

The fate of two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests remains unknown almost a year after their capture by the Russian National Guard amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Forum 18, an Oslo, Norway-based news service that covers religious and intellectual freedom violations in several countries.

When Enrique Alarcón Garcia, president of Frater España, a Christian fraternity of people with disabilities in Spain, entered the Vatican's Paul VI Audience Hall as a papal appointee to the Synod on Synodality, it seems one of the first things he noticed was the seating arrangements.

A California diocese has issued a warning about impostors posing as Catholic clergy and charging Spanish-speaking faithful "exorbitant fees" for celebrating the sacraments.

When Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjívar was 19 years old, he set out on a perilous journey from El Salvador to the United States, arriving at his destiny on the trunk of a car.

Amid wars around the world, particularly in Ukraine and the Holy Land, the Catholic Church needs to speak out on nonviolence as a necessary option for any hope of peace, said a representative of Pax Christi International, urging the pope to write an encyclical on nonviolence and just peace.

A Philadelphia priest has admitted to sexually abusing a teen girl who was once an altar server at his parish.

Amid international tensions and domestic divisions, it is crucial for leaders to bridge the gap between political strategy and practical tactics, said Henry Kissinger, who headlined the 78th Al Smith Dinner on Oct. 19.

Argentina's ruling Peronist movement pulled out a surprise performance in the Oct. 22 presidential election, with Economy Minister Sergio Massa taking the most votes and advancing to a runoff in November against libertarian upstart Javier Milei, who has verbally assailed Pope Francis.

Israel and Ukraine both face existential threats and deserve U.S. aid as they fend off conflict, President Joe Biden said in an Oval Office address to the nation on Oct. 19.

An explosion at the St. Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church campus in Gaza has left the administration building in ruins, and at least 17 people dead, though numbers have not yet been officially confirmed.

The Vatican, especially Pope Francis, must double its efforts and urge the international community to end the massacre of Palestinians killed in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestine's ambassador to Denmark said.

Retired Bishop Tod D. Brown, the third bishop of the Diocese of Orange, died early Oct. 15 at Providence St. Joseph Hospital after being hospitalized, according to the diocese. He was 86.