OSV News

River flooding forced the temporary closure of the famous grotto at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France. The shrine complex remained open to visitors. A morning Mass, however, was canceled Sept. 7 at the major Catholic pilgrimage site, which has experienced several major floods in recent years.

"I could really use my prayers right now. My school is getting shot up." The text message arrived at 10:39 a.m. Sept. 4 on youth minister Tania Martinez's phone.
 

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe said the plaque "stands as a permanent and painful reminder of the suffering endured by victims of clergy sexual abuse within our archdiocese."

More than two months after 5-year-old Loan Peña went missing in the northeastern Argentina town of Nueve de Julio, the church continues to promote marches to demand his captors release him.

The results of local elections in eastern Germany's regions of Thuringia and Saxony prompted German bishops to call for "responsible" formation of a government, even under "difficult" circumstances as the far-right party Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won over 30% of the vote.

Voters in states with abortion referendums on the ballot in November broadly appear poised to approve the efforts to codify abortion protections, according to polls of those contests.

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.

"Once again, we implore elected officials to work together, regardless of political or religious affiliation, to enact laws and provide services that will prevent the repetition of such tragedies," the bishops said..
 

As family, friends, teammates, coaches, media, acquaintances and even strangers struggled mightily to make sense of the devastating tragedy Aug. 29 that took the lives of National Hockey League star Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and his brother, Matthew, 29, no expression adequately conveyed the sense of loss that tore apart the fabric of a popular, much-loved family with deep Catholic roots. 

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the exemption Aug. 30, finding that it only applies to schools under the purview of a religious group, and only if the application of Title IX "would not be consistent with a specific tenet of the controlling religious organization."

Mexico's outgoing president has compared himself to St. Francis of Assisi, highlighting his personal parsimony as a calling card in a country notorious for corrupt politics — while overlooking his own willingness to welcome politicians with checkered records into his political party.

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.

Former President Donald Trump pledged his administration would require the government or insurance companies to pay for in vitro fertilization treatments, commonly known as IVF, in comments to multiple media outlets. IVF is a form of fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds that it often involves the destruction of human embryos, among other concerns.

The impact of this violence on education has been significant. At least 10.5 million children in Nigeria do not go to school, which is the highest nonattendance rate in the world, according to UNICEF.

Hours after the hostages were proclaimed dead, massive protests erupted in Israel, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an immediate cease-fire that would bring the remaining hostages home.

Since the Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 that reversed its previous abortion precedent, voters in Ohio, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it as the result of ballot measures.

A lawsuit launched in March has accused Father Thomas Rosica, the national director of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, of sexually assaulting a young priest in the lead-up to the event. Rosica, who served as a communications liaison at the 2019 summit on sexual abuse convened by Pope Francis, maintains the allegations should be handled by a church — not secular — court.

The silver coffin of St. Teresa of Ávila was opened in Alba de Tormes Aug. 28 only to confirm her body has remained incorrupt since her death in 1582. The opening of her tomb marks the beginning of a study of her relics, which will be carried out by Italian doctors and scientists — with the approval of the Vatican.

Inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha hosted a diverse group of leaders from government, business, education, nonprofit, agriculture and religious organizations from across northeast Nebraska for a day of reflection on how to care for our common home.