OSV News

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled April 29 that a group of faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey can challenge in federal court an investigation by that state's attorney general alleging they misled people about their services and seeking information about their donors.

Maryland's top court has ruled that state's attorney general cannot disclose the names of Archdiocese of Baltimore clergy and staff appearing in a grand jury investigation of alleged sexual abuse that have not been charged with any crimes.

Several U.S. and Japanese Catholic bishops seeking nuclear disarmament are expressing both urgency and wariness, as the United Nations hosts a conference on a non-proliferation treaty at a time when the U.N. head himself admits "arms control is dying."

As the U.S. and Iran face off over the Strait of Hormuz, Catholic maritime ministry leaders are calling for prayer and support for the thousands of souls trapped at sea amid the war.

Pope Leo XIV issued decrees advancing the sainthood causes of five candidates, including a Dutch nun who served in St. Louis in the early 20th century.

A new analysis from Pew Research Center has found that Catholicism has lost more members than it has gained in most of the 24 countries surveyed, while Protestantism has seen net gains in several nations, especially Latin America.

Priests are called each day to leave the doors of the Church open to a "suffering humanity" in need and not "be an obstacle to those who wish to enter," Pope Leo XIV told 10 deacons just before ordaining them to the priesthood.

Following a gunman's attempted assault on the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, forcing the evacuation of the president, first lady and members of the Cabinet, the head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference denounced the violence and called for all to resort to prayer.

"I am convinced the Holy Father's visit and his call for peace touched everyone, including separatist fighters and government officials," Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo said.

A Connecticut diocese has a new fundraising officer on its team, and her name is Maria – but don't expect to find her sitting at a desk in the pastoral center or making the rounds at parishes.

Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva of Buenos Aires rebuked the country's political class for ignoring Pope Francis' magisterium on unity by bickering among themselves at a Mass celebrated on the anniversary of the late pope's passing.

An Indigenous coalition filed an updated lawsuit in federal district court in Phoenix on April 22, their latest attempt to block a land transfer including their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, and protect the site from destruction by a copper mining giant.

The survey was conducted April 8-16, 2026, following Pope Leo XIV's declaration that President Donald Trump's threat April 7 to destroy Iran's civilization was "truly unacceptable," and in the midst of Trump's tirades against the U.S.-born pope over his opposition to the Iran war that started April 12 and lasted several days.

On the first anniversary of Pope Francis' death, Pope Leo XIV praised his predecessor's "courageous witness" as "a significant heritage for the Church."

It came the day after Easter, when — barely able to raise his hands — he gave his blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and the world). Looking drawn and worn, the 88-year-old pope from Argentina took his final ride in the popemobile, spending about 15 minutes among the crowd.

Catholic leaders in the Holy Land expressed their "unreserved condemnation" after a picture of an Israeli soldier striking the head of a statue of Jesus in Debel, a Christian village in southern Lebanon, went viral on social media.

Pope Leo XIV has donated $100,000 to provide access to clean water in El Salvador, supporting a program launched by the papal nuncio to that nation and by the U.S. bishops' Catholic Relief Services.

The decision about the Polish American priest who ministered for years in Soviet captivity "does not diminish the enduring spiritual value of his life, witness, and legacy," the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, said. 

"The church urges governments to exhaust every other possible means before going to war and before using force to achieve a noble end," said the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine.

"Pope Francis always stressed that the church was not a building or a symbol but the actual teachings of Jesus," filmmaker Martin Scorsese said. "I believe that Pope Leo shares that view."