World News

The president of the Belgian Bishops’ Conference joined Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist leaders in lamenting the Iran war. “Our thoughts are with all the innocent victims,” the religious leaders said in their March 10 statement. “Every human life deserves protection. Every human being deserves peace, no matter where they live in the ... read more

The apostolic nuncio to Lebanon joined two other prelates at the funeral Mass of Father Pierre el-Raï. ... read more

The bishop of Liège, Belgium, expressed “profound solidarity” with the local Jewish community following a March 9 explosion near the synagogue there. Bishop Jean-Pierre Delville said that “synagogues, churches, mosques and all spaces of prayer must always remain places of contemplation, peace and security for those who gather there.” The conflict in ... read more

The president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference called for peace in the Middle East. “The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference joins Pope Leo XIV and many world leaders in expressing deep alarm at the escalating violence now engulfing the Middle East,” said Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, S.D.B., the conference’s president. “The loss of life and ... read more

An arsonist (or arsonists) set fire to two Catholic churches in County Westmeath, Ireland, on March 6. Quick action prevented the fires at St. James’ Church in Kilbeggan and St. Michael’s Parish Church in Castletown Geoghegan from spreading throughout the buildings. ... read more

The answer to the question, “What is truth?” is clearly to be found in Divine Revelation. Firstly, the ultimate truth is that God is love. Secondly, the truth is that God wants to share His love, His Holy Spirit, with us. Thirdly, the truth is that it is only when God’s love suffuses and surcharges ... read more

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, spoke of the importance of loving young people and investing them in them. “Someone should love them freely” and introduce them to “a God who does not demand perfection, but loves and values us beyond what we achieve,” Cardinal Parolin said at a conference ... read more

Pope Leo XIV received Cardinal Dominique Mathieu, O.F.M. Conv., on March 11. The Belgian priest was appointed the Latin-rite archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan, Iran, in 2021 and created a cardinal in 2024. He left Iran with Italian embassy staff and arrived in Rome on March 8. ... read more

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia decried recent extremist attacks on members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The bishops described the attacks as a “grave sin against God, a direct affront to the sanctity of human life, and a violation of the moral law entrusted to humanity,” as they called for a ... read more

The Laudato Si’ Higher Educational Center, led by Cardinal Fabio Baggio, launched a global alliance for ecological conversion at a March 9-10 conference at Borgo Laudato Si’ in Castel Gandolfo. At the conference, co-sponsored by the University of Notre Dame, “we had about 90 representatives from 60 universities around the world, many ... read more

The president of the Italian Episcopal Conference expressed prayerful solidarity in a letter to the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic churches in the Middle East. Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna lamented the “exacerbation of violence that continues to cause suffering, wounds and mourning, weighing especially on the most fragile: families, children, the elderly, the ... read more

The Pontifical Academy for Life, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, has launched Scientists for Peace, the dicastery announced on March 11. “At a time when the language of war and the unleashing of violence are taking on a tragic global significance, which also limits scientific research, scientists and academics ... read more

(Image: CNS photo/Carlo Allegri, Reuters) Since we are halfway through Lent, it’s a good moment to consider how it’s been going. The purpose of our self-denial is conversion, as we learn to let go of control and to depend more upon God. The essence of Lent consists of a forty-day fast, originally ... read more

Competition seems an indelible mark of humanity, and far better it be directed into sporting rivalries than to military ones, writes NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters. ... read more

Every week, sometimes every day, a group of religious sisters and priests visit the imprisoned at Camp East Montana, an immigration detention center that resembles a sprawling tent city in the desert. ... read more