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

OSV News October 10, 2025

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 ...

Cardinals Robert W. McElroy of Washington, Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, and Archbishops John C. Wester of Santa Fe, N.M., and Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, are pictured in a combination photo.

US prelates head to Japan on ‘Pilgrimage of Peace’ amid nuclear fears old and new

OSV News July 29, 2025

As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- and as renewed nuclear threats emerge in current conflicts -- several U.S. Catholic bishops will travel to Japan on a "Pilgrimage of Peace."

Visitors hold an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as they gather in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the Angelus with Pope Leo XIV July 27, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope welcomes young people to Rome for jubilee, thanks media for promoting truth

Catholic News Service July 28, 2025

Greeting tens of thousands of visitors crowded in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV welcomed all the young people who arrived in Rome for the Jubilee of Youth.

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

OSV News 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.

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

OSV News 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.

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

OSV News 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.

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’

Catholic News Service 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.