News & Commentary

Al Jazeera reporter Nour Abu Rokba works as Palestinian emergency personnel celebrate in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip

Holy Land patriarch welcomes news of initial peace deal

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem welcomed "with joy" the announcement of an initial agreement between Hamas and Israel in an Oct. 9 statement, but also stressed the "absolute urgency" for the "immediate" and "unconditional" entry of humanitarian relief and sufficient ...
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A woman prays as thousands gather at a memorial service for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., Sept. 21, 2025.

At memorial, Charlie Kirk’s wife says she forgives alleged shooter

Charlie Kirk was an "influential figure" in his own election, President Donald Trump said at a memorial service for the Turning Point USA founder and conservative activist Sept. 21 at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
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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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People attend the burial of victims of a Sept. 8-9, 2025, massacre in Ntoyo, in the area of St. Joseph of Manguredjipa Catholic Parish, in the Congolese province of North Kivu. According to local sources close to the charity, the massacre -- attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces -- left at least 64 dead, many of whom were killed while taking part in a wake. (OSV News photo/courtesy Aid to the Church)

Over 60 people killed in Ntoyo, Congo, by Islamic State group supporters

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need expressed its "deep concern and solidarity" with the families of the victims of a brutal attack carried out on the night of Sept. 8-9 in Ntoyo.
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Pilgrims brave heavy rain to place flowers and pray Sept 8, 2025, at the the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity in Miami, affectionately known as La Ermita de La Caridad, for the annual feast of Our Lady of Charity and the 25th anniversary of La Ermita's designation as a national shrine by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2000. (OSV News photo/Tom Tracy)

Cuban Americans celebrate feast of Our Lady of Charity

Dressed in the customary yellow colors of the event and with umbrellas in hand, elementary school student Aniela Alejandra Garcia and her mother, Yeily Garcia, didn't let the weather stop them from approaching the statue of the Cuban Virgin of ...
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Con una bandera estadounidense al fondo, el Papa León XIV saluda a la multitud desde el papamóvil mientras recorre la plaza de San Pedro en el Vaticano antes de su audiencia general del 6 de agosto de 2025. (Foto CNS/Vatican Media)

Pew: US Catholics ‘like what they see’ in Pope Leo

(OSV News) — Catholics in the U.S. “like what they’ve seen so far” in Pope Leo XIV, with 8 in 10 viewing the new pope favorably — and significant numbers of non-Catholics agreeing, according to a new study from Pew Research ...
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An Italian policeman watches as immigrants board a van after they disembarked from an Italian coast guard boat at the port in Lampedusa, Italy, July 9. The day before in Lampedusa, Pope Francis lamented the sufferings of people who flee their homeland and mourned those who have died doing so. The island has been a landing point for scores of immigrants from Africa attempting to make their way to Europe. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) (July 9, 2013)

Migrants are not enemies, just brothers and sisters in need, Pope Leo says

At a time when people feel powerless to help migrants and refugees, Christians must continue to insist that "there is no justice without compassion, no legitimacy without listening to the pain of others," Pope Leo XIV said.
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