OSV News

Six lay staff members from a now-closed diocesan Cáritas chapter were convicted on money laundering charges in Nicaragua on Christmas Eve as the Sandinista regime stepped up its crackdown on the Catholic Church over the Christmas season. The Nicaraguan government has also forbidden the enactment of traditional "posadas," the living Nativity scenes created in the streets in the days leading up to Christmas.

People who have looked closely as their order was passed to them through a drive-in window may have noticed a sticker or sign announcing the location serving them is a franchise of a national, or even international, brand.

While faith cannot change anything in moments of great darkness such as the one Israelis and Palestinians are currently living through in the Israeli-Hamas war, it can, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said, create "a small light" which will give "orientation."

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed an immigration bill into law Dec. 18 that makes it a state crime for unauthorized migrants to cross into Texas from Mexico. Catholic organizations including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops have opposed the legislation.

Following a series of attacks on Christians in the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces Dec. 16, including the killing of a mother and daughter at a Catholic church, the Israeli Defense Forces said that it "takes claims regarding harm to sensitive sites with the utmost seriousness." However, the statement did not make any mention of the shooting deaths of the two women in the Holy Family Parish premises.

In an unwelcome revelation for American Catholics, the federal government announced in a March 2023 Federal Register notice a procedural change in how it processes green cards for foreign-born religious workers.

Pope Francis has downplayed the discourteous comments toward him from Argentine President Javier Milei -- who previously accused the pope of preaching "communism" -- attributing the remarks to electioneering in his home country.

Two Ohio dioceses are considering a potential merger, according to a joint letter issued Dec. 11 by Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and Bishop Paul J. Bradley, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, who said they "have begun very preliminary discussions regarding the potential merger of the dioceses."

The Diocese of Sacramento, California, has announced it will file for bankruptcy by March in an effort to resolve more than 250 sexual abuse lawsuits filed under a three-year California lookback window.

As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is celebrating its 75th birthday, the Vatican's Permanent Representative in Geneva, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, organized a symposium that aimed to focus on both human rights and care for creation.

A Nebraska priest has died after being attacked in the rectory of his parish in the early morning before he was to celebrate Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent.

A year from the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in the heart of the French capital, the cross is again overlooking Paris from the top of the newly installed wooden spire. On Dec. 8, 2024, the most famous cathedral in the world will welcome the faithful again. The French president said he will extend an invitation for Pope Francis to attend the historic moment.

At The Catholic University of America to discuss the need for a diverse and welcoming church, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory fielded a wide range of audience questions while also reflecting on his own faith journey from childhood.

Archbishop George Leo Thomas of Las Vegas said he is "holding close" those affected by a mass shooting on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus.

Russian occupation authorities have banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and other Catholic ministries in occupied areas of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to the church's main communications office in Kyiv.

The current war between Israel and Hamas may finally force a diplomatic solution to the long intractable tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians in the Holy Land, said the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico, "possesses a passionate heart that beats with a pastor's love for his people, for the people's growth and well-being, and for the future of the people of God in Puerto Rico," said Fr. Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension.

The University of Notre Dame has announced Dec. 4 that Holy Cross Fr. Robert Dowd has been named its 18th president, effective July 1.

The threat from nuclear weapons is as great now as ever, and their destructive power is more immediate than climate change, said Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, at a Nov. 29 Mass in Manhattan that remembered Catholic activist Dorothy Day, a candidate for sainthood recognized by the church as a "servant of God."

Lawmakers and exiled Nicaraguan nationals at a congressional hearing Nov. 30 called for the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a Catholic prelate imprisoned by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.