‘Tis the week of March Madness, and the pace of news has also reached a frenzy with the coming of spring. Below you’ll find a selection of OSV News headlines covering Catholic issues and issues that affect Catholics. You can also find more coverage on OSVNews.com, Facebook, X and Instagram, and listen to headlines each weekday evening in the OSV Newscast.
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
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Flannery O’Connor’s 100th birthday parties celebrate author’s quirks, talents — and love of birds
O’Connor, known for her Southern Gothic literature, was raised by devout Catholic parents and baptized at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, just across the square from her home in Savannah.
BASKETBALL: With ‘First Four’ round over, let March Madness field of 64 men’s teams take to the hardwood
INSTAGRAM: Priest influencer on evangelizing through humor, social media pitfalls and advice to Gen Z
RECALL: Some Chews Life rosaries, teethers recalled for choking hazard
Gambling on sports is now everywhere, but should Catholics support it?
CATHOLIC IN AMERICA: Sports gambling seems to be everywhere, especially when watching or listening to sports — both collegiate and professional. Yet few people besides key stakeholders with lots of money to make are paying attention to how the legal landscape of sports gambling is unfolding in our state capitols since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), allowing states to create their own regulatory frameworks around sports gambling. Listen to the Catholic in America podcast episode here.
4 steps for making a local pilgrimage during the Jubilee Year
Dioceses worldwide have designated local pilgrimage sites for the 2025 Jubilee Year, offering Catholics a chance to mark the Holy Year closer to home. While only Rome has official Holy Doors, these local sites remain places of prayer where pilgrims can receive an indulgence.
Film on Matt Talbot shows the power of faith, thirst for holiness
A forthcoming docudrama is highlighting how an Irish laborer, now on the path to possible sainthood, has become a patron of those battling addiction — and those thirsting for holiness.
DELAWARE: Former priest, ex-teacher charged with sex assault of minor in Delaware diocese in mid-1990s
KANSAS: Kansas archbishop sues Satanists over alleged theft of Eucharist for ‘black mass’
KANSAS: Wichita Catholic church vandalized in what bishops’ call ‘hate crime’
NEW JERSEY: 4 pro-life activists found guilty, spared jail time for NJ abortion clinic ‘rescue’ event
PENNSYLVANIA: US Catholics help ‘heal the wounds of war’ in Ukraine through fund
TEXAS: Paxton files first criminal charges for alleged violation of Texas’ abortion restrictions
WASHINGTON, D.C.: CRS urges US restore ‘life-saving and life-giving assistance’ after Rubio review
Marquette gets multimillion-dollar gift to boost natural family planning institute
Marquette University in Milwaukee recently received a $7.5 million gift to endow its Institute for Natural Family Planning within the College of Nursing. The institute conducts family planning research and trains health care professionals and couples in the Marquette Method, a fertility awareness-based method of family planning that helps couples achieve or avoid pregnancy by using a fertility monitor to track a woman’s cycle. According to Marquette, the Marquette Method is 98% effective when used correctly, and more than 100 instructors teach the method, both in person and online, worldwide.
Judge blocks Trump administration policy banning transgender troops
A federal judge in Washington on March 18 blocked the Trump administration from banning people who identify as transgender from military service, ruling implementation of the policy would violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause. The ruling comes amid similar efforts by the Trump administration to combat what critics, including Catholic leaders, call “gender ideology,” and as a still-pending Supreme Court ruling could change the legal landscape for states’ ability to permit or restrict medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.
DEPORTATION: Catholic migrant advocates ‘deeply alarmed’ by Trump use of Alien Enemies Act
JOURNALISM: Gudziak: America ‘silencing its own voice’ with VOA shutdown
SUPREME COURT: Heightened threat environment for judiciary raises concerns
SUPREME COURT: Roberts issues rare statement rebuking Trump’s call to impeach a federal judge
USCCB: US bishops continue legal battle with Trump administration over refugee resettlement funding
St. Joseph prayer intentions hit record with collaboration of French shrine, internet app
The Shrine of Our Lady of Graces in Cotignac, France, has become a hub for St. Joseph devotions, especially during a novena leading up to his March 19 feast. A popular pilgrimage site since the 17th century, the shrine is known for its connection to both Our Lady and St. Joseph, whose miraculous intervention saved a shepherd, Gaspard Ricard, in 1660. Today, the shrine’s reach extends far beyond France, aided by digital platforms like Hozana that offer a space for Catholic communities to share prayers.
ARGENTINA: The poor praying for Pope Francis’ health packed famous basilica in Buenos Aires Province
FRANCE: Lenten lectures are back at Notre Dame, marking a come back of a Parisian classic
MYANMAR: Myanmar junta allegedly torches Catholic cathedral in Kachin
NIGERIA: Kidnappers kill young Nigerian seminarian
UKRAINE: European bishops address ‘rising tensions’ as Trump talks to Putin, Zelenskyy
Miles rezan por la salud del Papa Francisco en la famosa basílica de Luján
El 16 de marzo, argentinos que trabajan en barrios humildes y la gente a la que sirven se reunieron en la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Luján para rezar por la salud del Papa Francisco. La misa marcó el 17º aniversario de Familia Grande Hogar de Cristo, un ministerio fundado por los curas villeros, con el apoyo del entonces arzobispo Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
El Papa aprueba la siguiente fase del Sínodo, marcando el camino hacia la asamblea de 2028
El Papa Francisco felicita a CRS por el 50 aniversario del Plato de Arroz
El Vaticano publica la primera foto del Papa Francisco desde su hospitalización
‘Nadie sabe cuándo será el final’ de la violencia mortal en Siria, afirma un arzobispo
Shroud of Turin to be digitally showcased during Holy Year
The Shroud of Turin, one of Catholicism’s most valued devotional items, will be digitally showcased during the Holy Year 2025, allowing visitors to engage with the revered relic like never before.
ART: Vatican unveils ‘lost’ Renaissance painting of the deposition of Christ
HOSPITAL: Vatican releases first photo of Pope Francis since his hospitalization
JUBILEE: U.S. Holy Year pilgrims add pope to their list of prayer intentions
POPE HEALTH: Pope’s doctors report more improvement, but no date for his release
STATE VISIT: King Charles, Queen Camilla hope to meet pope at Vatican in April
TECHNOLOGY: St. Peter’s Basilica becomes a ‘fixable,’ explorable Minecraft world
VOCATION: Pope urges young people to embrace vocation as ‘pilgrims of hope’
“The Leopard,” streaming on Netflix
Currently streaming on Netflix is a new adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic novel “The Leopard” set during the unification of Italy in the mid-19th century.
