OSV News

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.

Russia's extensive drone attack on Kyiv Nov. 25 damaged the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.

A late-night hostage-exchange agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas Nov. 21, and church leaders hope it will lead to end to the war.

The president of the Spanish bishops' conference has appealed for calm following mass protests against the planned release of jailed Catalan separatists under a deal with the new socialist-led government.

Upstart presidential candidate Javier Milei, who attacked Pope Francis as "filthy leftist," overwhelmingly won Argentina's presidential election on a radical libertarian platform of dollarizing the economy and shrinking the state in a country beset by recurring economic crises and triple-digit inflation.

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passed away Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, according to a statement from The Carter Center.