OSV News

Speaking to journalists in Rome May 6, Cardinal Pietro Parolin was asked if the Vatican intends to impose sanctions on the German bishops after the continued promotion of a handbook for blessing same-sex couples.

Bishop Michael Bransfield, who retired in 2018 as head of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston amid multiple allegations of grave sexual and financial misconduct, died May 7 at age 82.

The pope, who is set to visit Spain in June, said he was looking forward "to seeing all of you next month during my visit to the islands."

"I think it's just really connected with people ... how normal Pope Leo is," said Augustinian Fr. Tom McCarthy.

Caritas Bangladesh and church-run health centers are building infection prevention awareness while the country grapples with a deadly outbreak of measles that has left more than 330 children dead since mid-March.

As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider a farm bill recently approved by the U.S. House, Catholic organizations together with the U.S. bishops sought to stress to lawmakers the importance of efforts to combat hunger, such as robust support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, a major part of the nation's social safety net.

In the Church, clergy can play a crucial role in supporting the mental health of those in their parishes and communities, according to Bishop Dolan. He and other Catholic mental health leaders spoke with OSV News about clergy support of mental health for May, Mental Health Awareness Month.

Ahead of the first anniversary of his election to the chair of St. Peter, it was announced that Pope Leo XIV is officially expected to visit France in late September, the French bishops' conference confirmed May 6.

As xenophobic attacks continued to unfold in South Africa, Catholic bishops in Africa urged the government to quickly tame the violence, amid reports of deaths and injuries.

Such commitment to support Ukraine reflects an awareness that "we are brothers and sisters in Christ," said Jennifer Healy, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' director of Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which holds an annual collection among U.S. dioceses.

A Catholic church in northern Mozambique was targeted in an attack by the Islamic State group that has carried out attacks against Christians and Muslims in the country since 2017.

As Ohio prepares for its upcoming gubernatorial election, faith leaders pushed lawmakers on May 4 to end the practice of capital punishment.

The first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest in the United States — who has already had 40 potential miracles through his intercession investigated — is now getting his own national shrine in western Illinois where he grew up and once served.

Pope Leo XIV met the leadership of Catholic Charities USA in an audience at the Vatican on May 4, offering words of encouragement to one of the country's largest disaster relief networks as it navigates growing demand for food and basic services to aid the poor in the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court on May 4 temporarily blocked an appeals court ruling that sought to pause a federal policy permitting mifepristone, sometimes called the abortion pill, to be dispensed through the mail.

If accepted, the settlement would cap a five-year legal battle that has seen the archdiocese sell off property, while taking insurance giant Chubb to court over coverage for the claims.

One year in, Pope Leo XIV's papacy has been rooted in truth, unity and love — the distinct gifts of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine — making him a shepherd who leads with a blend of bridge-building and truth-telling, according to those who know him well and from afar.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed two auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington and accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. of Washington.

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Mark E. Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia, and named as his successor Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington.

The Vatican Observatory announced in an April 29 press release that an asteroid has been named in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who formally reestablished the observatory in 1891.