The U.S. Catholic bishops have launched a new “Healing and Hope” effort to more closely engage the faithful in addressing the issue of mental health, particularly at the local level.
OSV News recently interviewed Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu on justice, “Fiducia Supplicans,” and the church’s prophetic role; Microsoft’s Taylor Black on leading a new AI institute at The Catholic University of America; and Cardinal Mykola Bychok, the church’s youngest cardinal, on hope, war and global challenges.
The National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak, Michigan — the first parish in the United States to be named for St. Thérèse of Lisieux — will host the major relics of St. Thérèse Oct. 1-8 as part of a national tour, which ends Dec. 8.
Christians in northern Iraq have marked a powerful milestone of faith and survival by joining together in Erbil for the Festival of the Cross: a defiant sign that, a decade after an Islamic State group tried to erase Christianity from the region, faith is alive and thriving.
Three elderly women religious in Austria fled their nursing home and have returned to their longtime monastery, defying church superiors in a case that highlights the impact of Vatican regulations regarding aging members of dwindling religious congregations.
A new feature film about St. Maximilian Kolbe — the Polish Conventual Franciscan who gave his life at Auschwitz in 1941 — premiered Sept. 12 in the United States, instantly moving hearts. In contrast, a new HBO docuseries on Father Marcial Maciel, disgraced founder of the Legionaries of Christ, is forcing the congregation once again to confront its painful history.
British Catholics welcomed the presence of King Charles III and top royals at the funeral for the Duchess of Kent, a Catholic convert, the first such ceremony in the once-persecuted church’s main cathedral. Pope Leo XIV praised the late duchess for her “Christian goodness” and her many years of charity work and care for vulnerable people in a telegram of condolences.
A brutal attack linked to the Allied Democratic Forces took place in eastern Congo, killing at least 64 people, many of whom were mourners gathered for a wake in the area of St. Joseph of Manguredjipa Catholic Parish.
Former political prisoners and human rights campaigners are warning that Catholic priests in Belarus are being used as “hostages” by President Alexander Lukashenko’s regime.
What does celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross mean for us today, Pope Leo XIV reflected in his Sunday Angelus message. That same day, which was also his birthday (we collected 2 million+ prayers and works in a spiritual bouquet for him!), Pope Leo led an ecumenical prayer service commemorating new Christian martyrs. Excerpts from the pope’s first interview were also published. Among this week’s activities, Pope Leo led a prayer vigil as part of the Jubilee of Consolation; gave final thoughts to his Augustinian confreres concluding their general chapter; met with the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See; spoke on theology, AI and technology with members of the Pontifical Academy of Theology; wrote a message to an interfaith forum gathering in Kazakhstan; called the only Latin-rite parish in Gaza; and approved a change in Vatican labor laws to encourage hiring people with disabilities. His Wednesday general audience reflected on the mystery of Holy Saturday.
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