News & Commentary

Firefighters walk past a law enforcement checkpoint June 30, 2025, a day after two firefighters were shot dead while responding to a fire and the body of a man was later found with a gun nearby in the Canfield Mountain area outside Coeur d'Alene.

Idaho Catholics unite in prayer for firefighters killed in sniper ambush

An Idaho pastor told OSV News his parish turned to prayer and Eucharistic adoration, following a deliberate and deadly attack on first responders.
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The caskets of senior Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, lie in state June 27, 2025, at the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul.

Slain Minnesota lawmaker, husband remembered for lives lived ‘with purpose, meaning’

Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were shot dead in their home June 14, were remembered at their funeral Mass June 28 for living their lives "with purpose and meaning."
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A mother and child are seen enjoying time together in a park in Indianapolis. All mothers are honored in special ways on Mother's Day, which is May 10 this year. (CNS photo/Mary Ann Wyand, The Criterion)

Studies show need to increase mental health support for young women, mothers

Limited access to mental health care, rising substance use disorders and increasing income inequality are three likely reasons that young women and mothers are reporting declining mental health.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses delegates during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following U.S attacks on Iran's nuclear sites, at U.N. headquarters in New York City June 22, 2025. (OSV News photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)

Holy See tells UN: World needs peace, not just ‘absence of war’

Peace is "more than just the absence of war," but instead a commitment to human flourishing -- and one required more than ever as conflict and global defense spending soar, said the Holy See's permanent mission to the United Nations.
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Pope Leo XIV greets people before leading a meditation for hundreds of seminarians and those involved in priestly formation from around the world in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican June 24, 2025, as part of the Jubilee of Seminarians. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Love with Christ’s compassionate heart, Pope Leo tells seminarians

Do not be afraid to grapple with your innermost thoughts, feelings and problems so that your heart can be filled with God and his compassion, Pope Leo XIV told seminarians.
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Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq, gives a testimony of Christian persecution Nov. 28, 2018, during a vespers service in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. (OSV News photo/Tyler Orsburn)

‘Each conflict reopens wounds,’ says Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq

A Chaldean archbishop told OSV News June 23 that he has been unable to contact his fellow bishop in Iran, following recent strikes by the U.S. and Israel on various sites in that nation.
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A displaced Syrian family are pictured in a file photo inside their tent at a refugee camp in the village of Jeb Jennine, in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. (OSV News photo/Paul Jeffrey)

Amid conflict, poverty, papal charity aids persecuted Christians worldwide

Amid conflict, instability and poverty, "a remarkable display of true Christian charity" helped sustain the church in more than 130 countries during the previous year, said Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, president of the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need.
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