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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Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, addresses the COP29 Leaders Climate Action Summit Nov. 13, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Selfishness is blocking progress on climate change, cardinal says

Efforts to slow climate change and mitigate its impact, particularly on the poor, are being thwarted by selfishness, the Vatican secretary of state told world leaders at the COP29 climate conference.
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Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks during a news conference at a Nov. 12, 2024, session of the fall general assembly of the USCCB in Baltimore. Also pictured are Bishops Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, and Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va.

Bishops stress standing for dignity of human life following presidential election

The Catholic Church "always insists on the dignity of the human person from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, and we continue to insist on that," Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services ...
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Federal judge strikes down Biden program shielding undocumented spouses from deportation

A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program to protect from deportation and provide a path to U.S. citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living in the country who are married to ...
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20 years of abuse settlements for US Catholic dioceses exceeds $5 billion total

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles' $880 million abuse claims settlement, announced Oct. 16, brings the total payouts of U.S. Catholic dioceses for abuse claims since 2004 to more than $5 billion -- and possibly more than $6 billion -- OSV News has ...
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Sister Pat Madden poses in an undated photo before a wall covered with welcome signs given by clients to the Sisters of St. Joseph Welcome Center in Philadelphia. The center offers in-person and online courses in literacy and citizenship and is accredited by the U.S. Department of Justice to assist immigrants with the naturalization process. Some 58 volunteer teachers work with more than 150 students. (OSV News photo/Dan Stockman, Global Sisters Report)

Philadelphia’s St. Joseph Center serves immigrants, is ‘ready for any good work’

More than 20 years ago, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Philadelphia were dreaming of a way to help the many Albanian and other East European immigrants who were moving to the area.
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Voters cast their ballots at a polling station Oct. 26, 2024, during early voting at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. (OSV News photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)

Catholics lament voter rejection of school choice initiatives in 3 states

Proposed school choice initiatives in three states — Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska — appear to have been defeated at the ballot box in the Nov. 5 general election.
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