Franciscan Media

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

September 19, 2025
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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Thousands of young Poles make their way through the streets of Czestochowa, Poland, July 19, 2025, singing and praying as they approached the Jasna Góra Marian shrine. This year's annual pilgrimage and camp marked the 25th anniversary of the Foundation "Dzielo Nowego Tysiaclecia" (Work of the New Millennium), a vibrant "living memorial" to St. John Paul II, supporting talented youth from underprivileged backgrounds. (OSV News photo/courtesy Sara Janikowska, Work of the New Millennium)

Poland’s memorial to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives

July 25, 2025
Thousands of young Poles made their way through the streets of Częstochowa July 19, singing and praying as they approached the Jasna Góra Marian shrine.
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Motorcycles ridden by Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami and Knights on Bikes are parked in front of the entrance to Alligator Alcatraz, a controversial immigration detention facility some 55 miles from Miami in the Florida Everglades. The archbishop and his fellow bikers stopped to pray a rosary for detainees July 20, 2025. (OSV News photo/Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski)

Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz

July 24, 2025
Florida's senior bishop is pressing local, state and federal authorities for permission to bring Catholic pastoral care to the already infamous Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center.
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Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa greets parishioners in the Holy Family Parish in Gaza City July 20, 2025. He entered the Gaza Strip July 18 together with Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III, offering his support, closeness and prayers following the Israeli army's July 17 attack on the parish. He is accompanied by Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest who was injured during the attack, which killed three Christians sheltering in the parish. (OSV News/courtesy Holy Family Parish)

Patriarch’s visit ‘a miracle,’ while parishioners in Gaza feel desperation

July 23, 2025
Parishioners of Gaza's Holy Family Church are feeling "horror" and almost a sense of "desperation" after an Israeli tank shell struck the church.
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Pope Leo XIV greets visitors ahead of the Angelus prayer in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 20, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope condemns Israel’s attack, calls for end to ‘barbarity’

July 22, 2025
The "barbarity of war" and forced displacement of people have to end, and civilians and places of worship have to be protected, Pope Leo XIV implored.
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A student tries out the Blessed Carlo Acutis virtual reality experience at the Purpose Fest 2025 in Sydney July 2. Hundreds clamored in Sydney to be the first in the world to step into the groundbreaking virtual reality journey that transports attendees into the life and spiritual legacy of the young Blessed Carlo, who will be canonized Sept. 7 at the Vatican. (OSV News photo/Giovanni Portelli, courtesy The Catholic Weekly)

Into the mystery: How virtual reality is reimagining Catholic evangelization

July 21, 2025
The experience begins with a luminous church window framing a radiant image of Blessed Carlo Acutis hovering inches before your face.
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A wounded Palestinian Christian woman is brought into Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City July 17, 2025, following what initial reports and medics said was an Israeli tank attack on the church of the Holy Family Parish -- the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip.

3 dead, Holy Family Gaza pastor injured after mid-morning Israeli attack

July 18, 2025
Three people were confirmed dead and nine were injured, including a parish pastor, following what initial reports say was a mid-morning Israeli tank attack on the Holy Family Parish Church in Gaza on July 17.
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