OSV News

As U.S. lawmakers considered a bill to address the looming debt ceiling, Catholic and other Christian activists gathered at Georgetown University to discuss how a nation's budget is a moral document detailing its priorities, advocating care for the poor and vulnerable should rank high on that list.

The House of Representatives on May 31 approved a compromise bill brokered by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, just days before a deadline to address the debt ceiling or risk a U.S. government default.

The Holy See has declared Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth to be "pontifical commissary" of the Monastery of Saint Joseph of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns, according to a decree from the dicastery for religious life, dated May 31, 2023 and published on the website of the Diocese of Fort Worth. Olson "will assume his office upon communication" of the decree, it said.

A recent video that has gained traction on social media purportedly shows a McDonald's in Kiev bustling with people, prompting some to argue that perhaps the conflict is not as grim as the media and the country's government has reported.

Pope Francis has created the ecclesiastical province of Las Vegas, comprised of the Archdiocese of Las Vegas and the suffragan dioceses of Reno, Nevada, and Salt Lake City.

As Canada copes with wildfires from western Alberta province to eastern Nova Scotia, among the more than 3,000 men and women combating the flames is Fr. Gerald Mendoza.

A parish priest was shot dead as he drove on a rural Mexican highway May 22, marking yet another attack in what has become the most murderous country for Catholic clergy.

Victims of clerical sex abuse have bitterly criticized plans by France's Catholic bishops for all clergy to include a scannable QR code on their identity cards certifying whether they face restrictions for crimes or misdemeanors.

The Catholic Church has dispatched aid materials to the hardest-hit regions of Myanmar after deadly Cyclone Mocha battered the southeast Asian country May 14.

Fr. John W. Crossin, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, who was an expert in the field of Christian ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, died May 12 after a brief illness. He was 75.

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry of Chicago has been named chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.

Ukrainian church leaders have cautiously welcomed news of a Vatican visit by their country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after a fresh wave of Russian missile attacks in anticipation of a counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces.

As Title 42 drew to its scheduled close May 11, Catholic immigration advocates called for public policy on immigration that recognizes the humanity of migrants and asylum-seekers.

The Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, is partnering with Housing Development Alliance and Homes Inc. to provide flood survivors with new homes that are safe, energy efficient and sustainable.

After the election of the new leaders of Brazil's bishops' conference April 24, two Afro Brazilian priests released a public letter criticizing the fact that most of them are white and affirmed that the Brazilian church's "power structure" is tainted by "racism" and by a "pact of whiteness."

Rains triggered flooding and landslides in Rubavu, Rwanda, May 3, swamping residents homes. As the death toll from the flooding and landslides in neighboring Congo surpassed 400, Catholic bishops in the country expressed their deep sorrow and called for support.

Dallas Bishop Edward Burns addressed the faithful of the diocese "with a heavy heart" late May 6 after at least eight people, including a child, were killed during a mass shooting that afternoon at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas.

"Prayer that leads to action" is needed to counter a bewildering rise in gun violence, Atlanta Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer said after two deadly mass shootings that took place within a week of each other in Georgia.

A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling announced April 6 may help Sharon Lavigne's Rise St. James and other environmental justice groups in the region in their fight.