OSV News

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 upheld West Virginia and Idaho state laws requiring student athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex rather than their self-identified gender.

For Americans reflecting on the nation's history during its 250th birthday, the word "pioneer" might conjure up images of settlers' covered wagons trundling into the wilderness; buckskin-clad explorers mapping lands unseen by European eyes; or homesteaders eking out a lonely and challenging existence in an unforgiving terrain.

Pope Leo XIV has named Sr. Alessandra Smerilli prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, the Vatican announced June 30, making her the latest woman elevated to lead a major Vatican office under the new pontificate.

Pope Leo XIV offered prayers for the victims of devastating twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela as the death toll continues to climb and rescuers race to save people trapped under collapsed buildings.

Haitians face the possibility of being returned to a country "on the brink," one that for decades has "endured one calamity after another," said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales renewed its commitment to safeguarding after police in Staffordshire announced that a bishop in central England was charged with the rape of a minor.

As the Trump administration moves to seize a diocesan pilgrimage site for the border wall, bishops from New Mexico and Texas are calling on the faithful to join them for Mass on the mountain.

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 ruled that the Trump administration can reimplement a policy of turning away asylum-seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border before they enter the country, known as "metering."

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 found the Trump administration can end a program temporarily shielding eligible Haitian and Syrian immigrants living in the U.S. from deportation.

President Donald Trump on June 24 canceled his plans to sign bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the rising cost of housing, demanding that Congress pass a voter ID bill that lacks a clear path to passage in the Senate. 

The traditionalist Society of St. Pius X issued an open letter to Pope Leo XIV and the College of Cardinals asserting its adherence to Catholic tradition while proceeding with plans to consecrate four new bishops without a papal mandate.

The archbishop of Caracas called for prayers and solidarity after back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela, killing over 150 people and injuring hundreds more.

Catholic leaders in Sudan are renewing calls to end violence against innocent civilians after the killing of Fr. Youhanna Al-Amin, a priest serving in the Diocese of El-Obeid, who chose to remain with his people amid worsening security situation in the region.

Pulitzer Prize winners, a Nobel laureate, celebrated novelists and authors from nearly a dozen countries met at the Vatican for an audience with Pope Leo XIV, who reflected on the importance of books to reveal who we are and "our inner dialogue with God."

The Archdiocese of Chicago has been given the go-ahead to proceed with its countersuit against abuse settlement claimants who received payouts or had pending settlements after filing allegedly false claims.

The Department of Justice has moved to become a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against New York state filed by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed palliative care program for the dying poor.

The Vatican released the official schedule of the June 26-27 extraordinary consistory, giving a glimpse into some of the topics and major issues that will be discussed by Pope Leo XIV and the College of Cardinals.

"There will still be several points to settle, but it is always better to do so through dialogue, through negotiations, and not by returning to war," Pope Leo said.

A majority of U.S. Catholics view Pope Leo XIV favorably, and just over half say President Donald Trump has been too critical of the pontiff, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

Pope Leo XIV met with Peruvian President José María Balcázar at the Vatican June 18 for a nearly two-hour discussion, after which the president revealed details of a possible papal trip to Peru in November.