Home Opinion Week In Review | Jan. 31, 2025

Week In Review | Jan. 31, 2025

by Megan Marley

The intersection of faith and politics is a common thread in OSV News’ U.S. and international coverage, and this week was no exception. Abortion, immigration, gender, labor law, protests, assisted suicide and euthanasia were among recent hot-topic issues — to each we strive to bring the lens of Catholic faith in our reporting. 

Below is a selection of this week’s news coverage — you can also listen to top headlines each weekday evening via the OSV Newscast, and find even more stories to read on osvnews.com and @OSVNews on social media.

Megan Marley

Digital Editor

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For 125 years, society has had a mission to produce Catholic resources for the blind

The Xavier Society for the Blind is celebrating 125 years of helping generations of Catholics, either blind or vision-impaired, participate in worship through braille texts, large-type books and audio books. 

ACCOMPANIMENT: Eucharistic revival event shares ways to ‘walk with’ persons hurt by the church

JUBILEE: Upstate NY site honoring St. Kateri, Jesuit martyrs named a national shrine

LUNAR NEW YEAR: Lunar New Year coinciding with Jubilee Year seen as time for ‘change, renewal’

SOCIAL MINISTRY: US social ministry gathering summons Catholics to work for Christ’s ‘greater justice’

WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE: Consecrated life is ‘a call to remember Jesus at every moment,’ says expert


Amid horrors of Holocaust, Polish Franciscan mother superior saved hundreds of Jewish children

Mother Matylda Getter, wartime superior of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, is remembered for saving hundreds of Jewish children during World War II. At nearly 70, she defied Nazi threats and, with her sisters, sheltered Jewish children from the horrors of the Holocaust. 

80TH ANNIVERSARY: Bishops across Europe remember Holocaust victims, urge world to fight rising antisemitism

CARDINAL: ‘God suffered a great deal in every single person’ who was in Auschwitz, cardinal says


Catholic doctors sue over ER abortion mandate Biden administration put in place

The Catholic Medical Association is challenging a mandate put in place by the Biden administration that requires doctors to complete abortions in some emergency situations, even in states that ban abortions. For example, if a pregnant woman came to the ER after taking the abortion pill, under the mandate, the attending physician would have to complete the abortion even if he or she objects to abortion. 

ABORTION: Trump bars taxpayer funding for abortion in the U.S. or overseas 

CATHOLIC CHARITIES: White House suggests it will strip funds from Catholic Charities

GENDER: Trump signs executive order to prohibit gender transition procedures for minors

IMMIGRATION: Bishops across US defend migrants, calling for immigration reform in ‘justice and mercy’

OVERVIEW: Trump’s return to the White House shifts abortion policy landscape 

PEPFAR: Lifesaving HIV/AIDS program’s future uncertain amid stop-and-start foreign aid pause

VICE PRESIDENT: Vance spars with US bishops over their pushback on Trump’s immigration policy 


Pope clears way for beatification of Georgia martyrs

Pope Francis has formally recognized that five Franciscan missionaries ministering in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia were killed for their faith. By signing the decree in the sainthood cause of the Georgia martyrs Jan. 27, the pope cleared the way for their beatification, although a date for the ceremony was not announced immediately. 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: AI must serve, not replace, teacher-student relationship, Vatican says

COMMUNICATIONS: Catholic communication must engage with the world, pope says

EASTER: Catholics will accept a common date for Easter in East, West, pope says

HOLY DAYS: Vatican office clarifies rules for transferred holy days of obligation

SPANISH FLOOD: Pope calls on Valencia seminarians to bring hope to devastated region

SSPX: Excommunicated Bishop Williamson dies at 84

UNITED STATES: Pope sends condolences to families, US for midair collision near DC

WEDNESDAY AUDIENCE: At audience, pope talks about St. Joseph, comments on world events


Exploring the growth of Catholic classical liberal arts education 

INTERVIEW: Jay Boren, headmaster of St. Benedict Classical Academy since 2015, sees cultivating wisdom and virtue in the pursuit of truth and conformity to Christ as the final purpose of Catholic classical education. He spoke recently with Charlie Camosy about getting back to the heart of Catholic education, and whether Catholic education is experiencing a “renaissance” moment following a promising increase in enrollment in Catholic schools in 2023.


New NY law seen as big step in ‘rooting out exploitation’ in fashion industry

New York’s fashion models — as some of the most visible faces of a $2.5 trillion global business — have long worked without the benefit of basic labor protections. But that’s going to change when the Fashion Workers Act, signed into law Dec. 21, takes effect in June. 

CALIFORNIA: Pro-lifers rally, march in San Francisco to speak up, stand up for unborn, expectant mothers

ILLINOIS: Illinois state lawmakers file bills to legalize physician assisted-suicide

MONTANA: Canon, civil law collide on seal of confession, says expert

VIRGINIA: US bishops call for prayer after deadly DC air collision claims dozens of lives


France’s Catholic prime minister wants to fight ‘end of life’ bill by splitting measure

As France’s lawmakers push their Catholic prime minister to put the voting on the “end of life” bill back to the agenda, François Bayrou proposed to split the controversial bill into two separate issues: palliative care and “active assistance in dying.” Observers see it as a smart move to kill the “end of life” bill and strengthen actual palliative care without antagonizing rival political sides, clashing in France for months now. 

CONGO: Congolese bishop deplores escalation of violence as city of Goma claimed by rebels

ITALY: Italian diocese’s abuse report, a first for country, seen as hopeful sign for tackling crisis

PERU: Peruvian Cardinal Cipriani rejects abuse allegations as ‘completely false,’ Vatican confirms sanctions still in place

SERBIA: Serbian patriarch calls for an end to violence against demonstrators

SOUTH AMERICA: Latin American church leaders decry ‘pain,’ ‘drama’ of deported compatriots


Los católicos aceptarán una fecha común para la Pascua en Oriente y Occidente, dice el Papa

Con motivo de la Semana de Oración por la Unidad de los Cristianos, el Papa Francisco reafirmó la voluntad de la Iglesia Católica de aceptar la propuesta de una fecha común para celebrar la Pascua en Occidente y Oriente.

El Holocausto no puede olvidarse ni negarse, dice el Papa

La excelencia católica K-12 muestra a los niños ‘la visión de la vida en Jesucristo’, dice una líder de la USCCB

La libertad de los periodistas es la libertad de todos, dice el Papa a los trabajadores de los medios de comunicación

Líderes eclesiásticos latinoamericanos lamentan ‘dolor’ y ‘drama’ de compatriotas deportados

Reunión del Ministerio Social de EEUU convoca a católicos para trabajar por la ‘mayor justicia’ de Cristo

Trump firma una orden ejecutiva para prohibir procedimientos de transición de género para menores


Is non-alcoholic church wine valid for consecration?

QUESTION CORNER: The short answer is that it depends on exactly what the church supply company is referring to as “non-alcoholic church wine.” For sacraments to be valid — that is, for them to “work” — there must be both a valid formula (i.e., the words of the prayer to be said) and valid matter (the physical “stuff” used in a sacrament).


“Flight Risk” (Lionsgate)

Reflections on morality add some weight to this crime drama in which the pilot (Mark Wahlberg) hired to transport a federal marshal (Michelle Dockery) and a witness (Topher Grace) with whom she has made a plea bargain deal in exchange for testimony against a criminal kingpin turns out not to be what he initially seems. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.ANIMATED FILM: “Dog Man” (Universal)

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