News & Commentary

Henadz Fiadynich, one of the prisoners recently released from Belarus, speaks during a press conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sept. 12, 2025. (OSV News photo/Kacper Pempel, Reuters)

Jailed Catholic priests ‘used as hostages’ in Belarus

Human rights campaigners have accused the Belarus government of using imprisoned Catholic priests as "hostages," as a Polish Carmelite became the latest detained for alleged espionage.
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A pair of wedding bands symbolizing the sacrament of marriage is depicted in a stained-glass window at St. Isabel Church in Sanibel, Fla. (OSV News photo/CNS filer, Gregory A. Shemitz)

Dating culture crisis fuels Catholic marriage vocation collapse

Among Catholics, the sacrament of matrimony is in freefall. Over 50 years between 1969 and 2019, Catholic marriages declined 69% even as the Catholic population increased by nearly 20 million, according to Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the ...
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A woman and other members of the Ukrainian community participate in a candlelight vigil in front of the Russian Embassy in Washington Feb. 24, 2023, to mark the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (OSV News photo/Anna Rose Layden, Reuters)

Ukraine’s healing needs justice, repentance, say experts

Healing the wounds of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine requires decades of effort -- and a willingness to face human suffering at a staggering scale, said experts at a Feb. 23 panel discussion hosted by the Lumen Christi Institute at ...
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Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick arrives for Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in this Feb. 13, 2013 file photo. Prosecutors are challenging the medical report claiming former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial on charges he sexually abused a teen in the 1970s. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Prosecutors challenge report finding McCarrick not competent to stand trial

Prosecutors are challenging the medical report claiming former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial on charges he sexually abused a teen in the 1970s.
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Participants attend the annual Gay Pride parade in Nicosia, Cyprus, Sept. 25, 2022. Pope Francis has evoked both praise and protest for his outreach to LGBTQ persons during his decade-long papacy, as he has offered warmth and welcome while upholding the Catholic Church's teaching on human sexuality, said individuals interviewed by OSV News. (OSV News photo/Yiannis Kourtoglou, Reuters)

Praise, protest for Pope Francis’ outreach to LGBTQ persons

Pope Francis has evoked both praise and protest for his outreach to LGBTQ persons during his decade-long papacy, as he has offered warmth and welcome while upholding the Catholic Church's teaching on human sexuality.
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Pope says Lent is time to let go of the frivolous, to choose truth, love

ROME (CNS) — What matters is the truth and the love that God sees, not what is superficial, showy and self-centered, Pope Francis said during a Mass to mark the beginning of Lent. Pope says Lent is time to let ...
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Pope marks anniversary of Russia’s ‘absurd, cruel’ war on Ukraine

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis asked, “Can the Lord forgive so many crimes and so much violence? He is the God of peace.” At the end of his weekly general audience Feb. ...
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