World News

At a Jan. 24 outdoor vigil service honoring Alex Pretti and at Sunday Masses in Catholic parishes in the Twin Cities, Catholics spoke urgently of the need to stand up against injustice in the current immigration crackdown. ... read more

National Archives Mildred Agnes Martínez, mother of Pope Leo XIV. The canon archivist of Vigo Cathedral in Spain, Father Avelino Bouzón Gallego, has confirmed the Spanish origins of Pope Leo XIV’s maternal family by researching the archives of a parish in Galicia in Spain’s far northwest. ... read more

Algorithms designed to maximize engagement on social media can lock people into "bubbles" of easy consensus and rage, weakening people's ability to listen and think critically, and increasing polarization, the pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Communications. ... read more

FOCUS SEEK 2026 drew record attendance in three U.S. cities. Studies have shown a growth in Gen Z’s interest in the Catholic faith. Mindful of this growing trend, Catholic organizations and well-known influencers are working to reach this demographic. ... read more

Over a year since Donald Trump and JD Vance spread falsehoods about the city's migrants eating pets, Haitians' temporary protected status is set to run out Feb. 3. ... read more

N'Djamena – Pope John Paul II’s vision of the “Church as the Family of God” “was not only a theological ideal, but a true pastoral roadmap for a continent that had left behind colonialism, dictatorships, and divisions, but was characterized by a vibrant faith and great hope.” This is how Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besunguin, Archbishop ... read more

In separate announcements, the apostolic nuncio to Angola and the president of Equatorial Guinea said that Pope Leo XIV will visit their nations. The Vatican has not officially announced the visits. Angola, a nation of 37 million (map) is 92% Christian (52% Catholic) and 6% ethnic religionist. Equatorial Guinea, a nation of 1.9 ... read more

Seventy-six students at the University of Notre Dame are preparing to enter the Church this Easter—up from 33 in 2023 and 52 in 2024. The National Catholic Register reported that “growth this year has been particularly strong among catechumens, meaning those who have never been baptized.” A record number of students are also ... read more

Reacting to violence in Minneapolis, the head of the nation’s largest diocese said today that “the country cannot go on like this.” “The first task is to restore order and peace to our streets, and insist on calm and restraint in our public discourse,” Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles wrote in an archdiocesan ... read more

The cardinal archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, called for the defunding of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “How will you say ‘no’ to violence?” he said yesterday during an online interfaith prayer service. “How will you say ‘no’ this week when an appropriations bill is going to be considered in Congress?” Cardinal ... read more

Seoul – Social organizations, NGOs, and groups from various religious communities in South Korea are rejecting the Korean government's plan to build two new nuclear power plants. They are protesting and demanding its immediate abolition. The government in Seoul has announced that it will build two nuclear power plants by 2038, as Climate Minister Kim ... read more

Port-au-Prince – The arrival of the new year has not yet brought any improvement to the serious humanitarian crisis affecting the population of the Caribbean island. According to Doctors Without Borders in Haiti, there has been a significant increase in admissions to Drouillard Hospital in Port-au-Prince due to violence-related causes. Between December 29, 2025, and ... read more

Kinshasa – Father Jean-Richard Ilunga, parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Diocese of Mbujimayi in eastern Kasai Province , was the victim of a brutal robbery on January 24. Father Ilunga was returning from Mbujimayi, where he had collected a donation of $2,000 for the construction of his ... read more

Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV addresses the prelates of the Roman Rota during an audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Jan. 26, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media Pope Leo XIV received the prelates of the highest appellate tribunal in the Catholic Church at the Vatican on Monday, emphasizing that true justice ... read more

Archdiocese of San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio blesses matachine dancers during a celebration on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He said he believes that Hispanics, immigrants especially, will help bring new life into the Church. | Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller spoke candidly about his childhood under a repressive regime and ... read more