OSV News

This year's March for Life stressed the theme "Life Is a Gift," but the event also showed visible cracks emerging in the movement's political vision and frustration with the Trump administration.

A group including Catholic organizations announced Jan. 21 a new partnership — The Catholic Immigrant Prophetic Action Project — that aims to assist the Catholic Church in the U.S. in organizing a robust response on behalf of migrants and refugees in the country, including those with legal status, who are affected by mass deportation efforts.

The Holy See, "obviously, finds itself in a different situation than other countries, so there will be a different consideration," Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.

As Trump boosts his rhetoric on the U.S. acquiring Greenland, whether by sale or force, Catholic social teaching has something to say to the situation, said a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis — whose territory has become a flashpoint in the nation's immigration policy debate — is calling for "comprehensive immigration reform now," citing "human cost on all sides."

Fernando Mendoza shared a touching salute in Spanish to his parents and grandparents, who all came to the United States from Cuba.

On Jan. 19, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, released "The Divine Physician and a Christian Approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing," a pastoral letter surveying the state of mental health in the U.S. and offering both "encouragement and guidance" in addressing mental health challenges "in light of the teachings of Christ and the Gospel."

Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences to the families of victims of a devastating accident in which two high-speed trains collided in southern Spain's Andalucia region.

Marking the Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, urged Catholics to reflect on how they are called to be "drum majors for justice" in their own communities. 

The conspiracy lured players to intentionally underperform while fixers raked in profits from sports betting, authorities said.

As anti-government protests in Iran continue despite an internet blackout and the use of lethal force against demonstrators, Pope Leo XIV expressed his concern over the escalating situation.

Although individual accounts are by now familiar to many, the purpose of the hearing, said commission chair Vicky Hartzler, a former congresswoman from Missouri and an evangelical Christian, was to draw attention to what she called "a dark picture for religious freedom."

Each year, the annual Marian procession of the "Divina Pastora" ("Divine Shepherdess") draws millions of pilgrims and devotees in Venezuela. The Jan. 14 procession, however, was of particular significance following the United States' capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores Jan. 3.

The Department of Homeland Security said Jan. 14 it issued an interim final rule reducing wait times for religious worker visas. Catholic advocates were among those who pushed the Trump administration to address the backlog in their visa category.

"Ever since the deadly shooting of Renee Good on Portland Avenue last Wednesday, I find myself googling 'Minneapolis' every few hours to learn of the latest developments in a situation that truly tears at the heart," wrote Hebda in his Weekly Word newsletter.

According to the decree, Leo has established that from Jan. 10, following the closing of the church's Jubilee Year, until Jan. 10, 2027, a special Year of St. Francis may be proclaimed, in which every Christian, "following the example of the Saint of Assisi, may himself become a model of holiness of life and a constant witness of peace."

It's a moment many displaced Venezuelans in the U.S. and other countries in the Western Hemisphere have been dreaming about for years, and it arrived in the early morning of Jan. 3, beginning about 2 a.m. local time.
 

Pope Leo XIV embraced the youth of Rome — both literally and with his words — during a Jan. 10 meeting with the young people of the Diocese of Rome, telling them to choose real relationships over digital isolation.

Pope Leo XIV strongly condemned the Church's failure to welcome survivors of sexual abuse, calling it a "scandal" that deepens their suffering, even though the issue was not a main topic at the Jan. 7-8 extraordinary consistory in Rome.

An interfaith gathering of faith leaders in Minneapolis Jan. 8 drew a crowd as faith leaders raised concerns about the impact immigration enforcement actions are having on people in the community, including Catholic parishes in Minneapolis.