World News

Some Catholic hospitals and several other religious objectors in Illinois will not have to promote the state’s assisted suicide regime while a lawsuit challenging the policy plays out in federal court. Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki had earlier in August brought the lawsuit against the state in U.S. district court alongside a Lutheran care home and ... read more

The state agreed to a federal court order amid a suit brought by the Diocese of Springfield and Bishop Thomas Paprocki. The Illinois Capitol in Springfield. | Credit: Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock Some Catholic hospitals and several other religious objectors in Illinois will not have to ... read more

The president of the German Bishops' Conference has announced the bylaws for the German Synodal Conference are still under review in Rome.The Synodal Conference is intended to serve as a permanent body implementing the controversial German Synodal Way. The Vatican continues to review the bylaws of this new national-level body, which is to consist of ... read more

The Vatican has been reviewing the bylaws for Germany’s planned Synodal Conference since late March, with the panel’s first meeting in doubt for November. Bishop Heiner Wilmer. | Credit: Marko Orlovic/German Bishops’ Conference The president of the German Bishops’ Conference has announced the bylaws for ... read more

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Russia on Aug. 25 to discuss Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.The Vatican Secretariat of State announced the meeting on its X account the same day, describing it as a meeting where “topics of common ... read more

Archbishop Paul Gallagher met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Aug. 25. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states within the Holy See’s Secretariat of State, at the Vatican on Oct. 27, 2017. | Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN News Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the ... read more

This past spring, a record 85 people became Catholic at St. Paul’s Catholic Church across the street from Harvard University, and 45 of those were Harvard students or faculty.This year, 65 have registered so far, which is keeping apace with last year’s “dramatic increase” in conversions, Father Nathaniel Sanders, the undergraduate chaplain at Harvard, told ... read more

Paralleling trends elsewhere, at Harvard University more young people than ever are joining the Catholic Church. Widener Library on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. | Credit: Tada Images/Shutterstock This past spring, a record 85 people became Catholic at St. Paul’s Catholic Church across ... read more

Khartoum – The war in Sudan is increasingly involving neighboring countries into the conflict. The Sudan Armed Forces , led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, have stepped up operations aimed at cutting the supply lines of the Rapid Support Forces , led by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” which run through several neighboring countries.The ... read more

Beijing – As the ordinations of Chinese Catholic bishops appointed under the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China continue, a major new scholarly work is turning the spotlight on the history and development of Catholic dioceses in China, tracing six centuries of Catholicism in the country, ... read more

Ruteng – “An earthquake can bring so many things to collapse in a matter of seconds. Homes, places of worship, schools—even our sense of security can suddenly become fragile. Yet, amid the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck Flores on August 15, I witnessed the emergence of a remarkable spirit of solidarity: people began ... read more

The pontiff appointed Patrick Kelly as a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life on Aug. 25. Pope Leo XIV shakes hands with Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly during an audience with Knights of Columbus leadership at the Vatican on Oct. 6, 2025. | ... read more

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly as a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life. The Vatican announced Kelly’s appointment on Aug. 25.The dicastery was created by Pope Francis in 2016 to promote, as stated in its statutes, “the apostolate of the lay faithful, the ... read more

Stephane de Sakutin Les Democrates’ member of Parliament (MP) and rapporteur Philippe Vigier addresses MPs during the exam session of the vote on the assisted dying bill at the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament, in Paris on July 15, 2026. The bill passed, allowing for assisted suicide. France’s highest constitutional authority ... read more

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa assured Christians in the Holy Land they “will not be abandoned,” said Michael LaCivita, communications director at Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during a July 14, 2025, visit by the head clergymen of several Christian denominations to the ... read more