Gina Christian

Amid controversy over religious-themed tattoos sported by President-elect Trump's pick for defense secretary, a U.S. office of a Vatican lay institution for the church in the Holy Land has expressed concern regarding the misuse of its historic insignia.

In the wake of recent high-profile cases of financial mismanagement at parishes, experts said transparency, accountability and greater involvement of finance councils in parish business operations can head off losses in money and trust.

As Russia's full-scale invasion reached the 1,000-day mark Nov. 19, Ukraine still stands as "a testament to the miraculous endurance of our people, to God's grace," said Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

"This war is really something that we have never seen," said Joseph Hazboun, the Palestine-Israel regional director for the Catholic Near East Welfare Agency-Pontifical Mission. "There is a systematic destruction of the infrastructure and what makes life possible in Gaza."

If approved by the court, the move — which follows the decision by the diocese in May 2023 to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy — would create a survivors' trust totaling between "approximately $160 million and $198 million or more," the diocese said in a Nov. 8 news release.

The poor and vulnerable must be front and center when it comes to climate change policies, said two leading bishops of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and the head of the U.S. church's international humanitarian agency, in a statement issued ahead of the United Nations' annual gathering on climate concerns.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has announced it will discontinue its partnership with the Girl Scouts of the USA due to the organization's "impoverished worldview regarding gender and sexuality," which conflicts with Catholic teaching.

A number of U.S. Catholic dioceses and their bishops have issued statements disavowing fake Catholic newspapers that have resurfaced in swing states ahead of the presidential election to target Catholic voters on key issues.

Russia's latest blockage of Western religious websites and social media accounts tightens the Kremlin's chokehold on Russian residents' information access, the editor of a Ukrainian religious news outlet told OSV News.

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico — who in January 2022 released the pastoral letter "Living in the Light of Christ's Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament" — said in his Oct. 14 statement that the "well-deserved recognition" of Nihon Hidankyo by the Nobel committee was a wake-up call to humanity.

As Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida just days after Hurricane Helene, Catholic Charities USA has launched a dedicated disaster relief donation campaign.

At present, the diocese has "very limited unrestricted diocesan funds, little diocesan property to sell, and likely no insurance coverage to help toward these settlements," said Bishop John J. McDermott.

The Franciscan college in New York state will host a two-day gathering on integral ecology and sustainability with a focus on creating a "global vision with local meaning" to care for creation. The free symposium, set to take place both in person and online, will also include several panel discussions, exhibitor displays, prayer and a concluding performance of short plays about climate change, sustainability and climate justice, several of them written and performed by Siena students.

Ending poverty, ensuring nuclear disarmament and regulating artificial intelligence, or AI, were among the issues highlighted by the Holy See at the 2024 United Nations Summit of the Future, held Sept. 22-23 in New York at U.N. headquarters.

The Ohio bishops said, "Throughout our nation's history, Catholic immigrants have come to our shores seeking freedom to worship and raise their families." They quoted Pope Pius XII's 1952 apostolic constitution, "Exsul Familia Nazarethana," in which the pope observed, "Indeed, there never has been a period during which the church has not been active on behalf of migrants, exiles and refugees."

A priest who recently spent 65 days on the road with the Blessed Sacrament during a national Eucharistic pilgrimage has been tapped to head the papal missions in the U.S. — and he told OSV News he's ready to help missionaries near and far "bring God to the ends of the earth" through the Eucharist.

A Ukrainian Catholic University student and all but one member of her immediate family were among those killed in a Sept. 4 strike by Russia on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

A "true Eucharistic experience" can recommit the faithful to the care of God's creation, said two U.S. Catholic bishops in a joint message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, recently spoke with OSV News following his return from the 10th Meeting of Bishops and Migration Pastoral Agents of North America, Central America and the Caribbean, which took place Aug. 19-23 in Panama.

In their legal motion, the priests told the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas that the two had been "significant caregivers" since the child was "approximately two months old." They alleged a pattern of neglect and negligence of the infant by its mother, Jorden Pauley, including referring to the child as "a little bastard," watering down the child's formula due to not having enough supply, and feeding the child age-inappropriate foods, such as chocolate and cantaloupe. The priests claim, "The parents are unstable and do not provide adequate support and care for the child."