OSV News

The community of Highland Falls in southeastern New York is still reeling after a July 9 rainstorm caused widespread devastation. Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish has served as an impromptu aid center and shelter for those hit hard by the storm.

More than 80 million Americans are currently under dangerous heat advisories. Temperatures in California's Death Valley hover around 120 degrees Fahrenheit at midnight. Phoenix as of July 31 had seen 31 straight days of heat over 110 F, the cause of 25 deaths. Spain, Greece and Italy have recorded all-time high temperatures. In several Middle Eastern countries, the heat index mid-July reached 152 F, considered almost at the limit for human survival.

The organization that oversees the Catholic Church's English-language translations for the Mass and other liturgies of the Roman Rite has a new leader as of Nov. 1.

Priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have called for breaking ties with the Russian Orthodox Church, following a Russian attack on Odesa that destroyed a historic cathedral while killing two and injuring at least 22, including four children.

Catholics in Greece have called for lessons to be learned after a wave of fires devastated parts of the country amid highest summer temperatures for half a century. "The pope has talked many times about how we all need to collaborate in reversing climate change," said Archbishop Josif Printezis of Naxos, Andros, Tinos and Mykonos, secretary-general of Greece's Catholic bishops' conference.

In a statement announcing Kerry Alys Robinson's appointment as Catholic Charities USA president and CEO, the group's board said Robinson's "entire professional life has been devoted to serving and bettering our church." 

The Mobile County District Attorney's office is asking the public for information about a young Alabama Catholic priest who was publicly placed under restriction by the Mobile Archdiocese for walking away from his parish and reportedly leaving the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate for an exorcism.

The July 26 death of acclaimed Irish singer and songwriter Sinéad O'Connor, who was 56, has seen an outpouring of tributes from all walks of Irish life.

A federal judge July 25 blocked the Biden administration's rule permitting immigration authorities to deny asylum to migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border without first applying online or seeking asylum protections in a different country.

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Thomas R. Zinkula of Davenport, Iowa, as the next Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa. Zinkula's installation Mass is scheduled for Oct. 18.

The Justice Department on July 24 sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over a floating barrier recently installed on the Rio Grande, part of the Republican governor's latest attempts to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico as part of his "Operation Lone Star" program.

Catholic bishops in Kenya appealed for an end to violence and for a pivot to dialogue, as scores are killed in anti-government protests.

Catholic migrant advocates condemned a report alleging inhumane treatment of migrants seeking to cross the border into Texas, including an allegation that the state directed its personnel to withhold water from migrants despite extreme heat.

The United States endured a record number of mass killings in the first half of 2023, according to a new analysis. The report came in tandem with news that at least four people were killed in a mass shooting in Hampton, Georgia, south of Atlanta, on July 15.

When the next consistory convenes at the Vatican on Sept. 30, a South Sudanese archbishop -- whose installation met stiff resistance -- will be among the 21 recipients of the red hat.

Two U.S. archbishops are leading a "Pilgrimage of Peace" to Japan, hoping to promote global nuclear disarmament.

The Catholic University of America has requested emergency meetings with Washington police following two recent off-campus attacks that occurred in the days after the killing of a beloved Kentucky teacher during an apparent robbery that took place in front of a university building.

Guatemala's bishops have demanded runoff elections occur as scheduled -- a call coming amid protests over attempts by anti-corruption prosecutors to disqualify a party threatening the country's status quo.

Pope Francis has named four priests in the Los Angeles Archdiocese as auxiliary bishops: Msgr. Albert Bahhuth, Capuchin Fr. Matthew Elshoff, Fr. Brian Nunes and Fr. Slawomir Szkredka.

In order to consider the parables of Jesus Christ with empathy, keep in mind the fullness of Jesus' humanity and ability to tell stories with a sense of humor, Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington said in a July 16 homily.