OSV News

Mexican authorities recently rescued 13 kidnapped migrants from a Ciudad Juárez stash house, where the captives "were beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted and extorted for additional smuggling fees by members of a transnational criminal organization."

The Supreme Court on June 27 dismissed a case concerning abortions for medical emergencies in Idaho, sending the case back to a lower court without resolving the central question of whether a conflict exists between Idaho's abortion restrictions and federal law governing emergency health care.

The Supreme Court June 26 ruled in favor of the Biden administration in a dispute with Republican-led states over the government's effort to restrict misinformation on social media on topics including COVID-19.

The Kenyan capital descended into chaos June 25 as protests over legislation dubbed a finance bill left several dead and dozens injured. The country's bishops called for peace and urged the president not to accede to the measure aimed at raising revenue by levying additional taxes.

Church leaders in Jerusalem accused local Israeli authorities of launching a "coordinated attack" against the Christian presence in the Holy Land after several municipalities initiated legal proceedings for alleged municipal tax debts.

The first bishop of a special diocese in Great Britain created for Catholics of the Anglican tradition has welcomed the pope's show of support and predicted the fledgling Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will continue growing and strengthening.

The Supreme Court on June 24 agreed to hear a challenge to a Tennessee state law banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender, the high court's first major step toward weighing in on the controversial issue.

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association honored Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia with its Faith & Culture Award. The presentation took place during the annual Catholic Media Conference, hosted this year in Atlanta June 18-21.

Taking over one of the most troubled dioceses in the country, Bishop Artur Wazny of Sosnowiec didn't waste time ahead of his June 22 installation.

Father Nils Hernandez of Queen of Peace Parish in Waterloo anticipates a turnout of 500 to 1,000 people for the demonstration against the law in Waterloo, July 1. He felt encouraged by the judge’s decision but also noted that the fight against the law must continue. "I feel God has answered some prayers," he said. "We are celebrating that God is with us."

Removing Fr. Marko Rupnik's art from public space "is not a Christian response," Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication, said at the Catholic Media Conference in Atlanta.

The number of permanent deacons in America is holding relatively steady, but more than a third of them are also at or approaching the required retirement age for many dioceses. According to experts, the situation may suggest a need for local churches to revisit the Second Vatican Council's vision for the permanent diaconate and rethink how to invite men to discern the vocation.

Jesuit Father Luis María Roma wrote in a diary of abusing girls, whom he often lured to a river and photographed inappropriately, according to the Spanish newspaper El País. The Jesuit province in Bolivia compiled a report on Father Roma's acts in 2019, but withheld it from prosecutors, according to El País, which obtained a copy of the priest's diary and the Jesuit's investigation.

After the Supreme Court June 14 struck down a Trump-era federal ban on bump stocks June 14, the U.S. Senate tried to pass a ban on the devices by unanimous consent, a procedure in which the Senate considers a matter agreed to if no senator objects.

The Biden administration June 18 announced an executive action that allows certain noncitizen spouses and children of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent residency without first having to leave the country, as they were previously required to do.

Just days after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met June 12-14 for their Spring Plenary Assembly in Louisville, the bishops finally achieved the threshold needed to pass their national pastoral framework to guide ministries with youth and young adults.

A lawyer representing Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants, told reporters shortly after a June 17 hearing in the case that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's attempt to shut down that ministry is an "attack on religious liberty."

Longtime Detroit-area radio personality Al Kresta died June 15 six weeks following a liver cancer diagnosis. He was 72.

The Diocese of San Diego will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization June 17, a decision Cardinal Robert W. McElroy said "offers the best pathway" to both provide "just compensation" for sex abuse victims and allow the diocese to continue its ministries.

Pope Francis has replaced Bishop Paul J. Bradley as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, with Bishop Edward M. Lohse of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Steubenville Diocese announced June 14.