OSV News

“For the moment let us pray for the USA, the world’s greatest defender of democracy until now, as it faces this huge shock. May God bless America with peace and reconciliation,” he tweeted.

Dozens of Catholics were among a group of more than 2,000 religious and community leaders who urged Congress to reject any effort to overturn the results of November’s presidential election.

Gloria Purvis, who was told after the Dec. 30 broadcast of the EWTN radio show “Morning Glory” that the show was canceled effective immediately, said she has no regrets using the show to discuss racial matters following the police killing of George Floyd last May.

The notable absence of Pope Francis at the final liturgical celebration of 2020 in St. Peter’s Basilica capped off a difficult year for the Vatican and for the world.

A $1.5 million grant awarded by the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions will support Catholic Extension’s ongoing disaster recovery work in Puerto Rico three years after two devastating hurricanes.

Pope Francis will not preside over the traditional end-of-the-year prayer service nor the New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica due to “painful sciatica,” the Vatican said.

Churches will ring bells at noon Dec. 30, during the octave of Christmas, to remember and honor the more than 336,000 people who have died in the United States from COVID-19.