World News

Melissa Hartog/Illustration The beloved 'Bear of Little Brain' turns 100 this year. ‘Milne never preaches,’ Ashenden reflected. ‘He simply shows us a small world ordered by mercy and lets children grow up half-remembering that this is how the real world ought to be.’ ... read more

An expert in religious tourism explains the importance of the work of shrines and pilgrimage routes to reach their full potential, both in terms of economic and spiritual benefits. Pilgrims visiting the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil | Credit: Shutterstock. Religious tourism ... read more

Religious tourism draws hundreds of millions of people to various sites each year, generating billions of dollars, and the Americas have some of the most frequently visited shrines and basilicas.However, religious tourism is far from reaching its full potential, according to Adrián Lomello, director for the Americas of the World Religious Tourism Network. The situation, ... read more

I have spent a good part of my life trying to discover the truth. When I was 18, I left atheism for Protestantism and developed Calvinist persuasions. Thirty-three years later, after learning of the evidence for the Catholic Faith and the beauty of the Eucharist, I embraced Catholicism at the 2024 Easter Vigil. But I ... read more

A Dutch bishop who argued against synodality in an open letter to Pope Leo renewed his criticism in an interview. However, Auxiliary Bishop Robertus Mutsaertsof of ’s-Hertogenbosch said that “there is no necessary contradiction between synodality and tradition.” He explained: Imagine a synodal Church asking every parish: Why are your baptized teenagers disappearing? ... read more

The Dicastery for the Clergy reportedly revoked the bishop of Buffalo’s imposition of an assessment on a parish’s assets to help fund a $150-million diocesan abuse settlement. “The Dicastery holds that there is no licit means by which the Diocesan Bishop can involuntarily require the alienation of such a large percentage of the patrimony ... read more

A group of German parents called on the Archdiocese of Hamburg to withdraw its sex education framework following correspondence with a Vatican dicastery. In response to a query from the Parents’ Network for Child Protection and Prevention, the Dicastery for Culture and Education affirmed the continued authority of “Male and Female He Created Them,” ... read more

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the English and Spanish translations of the Mass for the Care of Creation, promulgated in Latin last year. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published the translations on its website. ... read more

As it often does with the events of the Gospels, the streaming series The Chosen adds to the drama of the encounter between Jesus and Nathanael in John 1:45-51 by employing a bit of artistic [...] ... read more

I have always found Jesus’ words about hunger and poverty difficult to understand. I remember reading the Beatitudes as a child and coming across “blessed are they who hunger” and thinking it unfair. It seemed like God was arbitrarily blessing those who happened to be poor, something which they had little control over. Even as ... read more

Pope Leo XIV concluded his brief pastoral visit to the Italian city of Rimini on August 22 by celebrating an outdoor evening Mass at the city’s port (video). ... read more

At the conclusion of his Sunday Angelus address, Pope Leo XIV called for aid for the Democratic Republic of the Congo amid the Ebola epidemic there. ... read more

In a sign of extraordinary Church-state tensions in Armenia, the head of Armenian Apostolic Church (CNEWA profile) and six other bishops are on trial for defying a court order to reinstate a deposed bishop. Patriarch Garegin (Karekin) II has led the Church since 1999. The Armenian Apostolic Church is among the Oriental Orthodox churches ... read more

Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the day (Matthew 16:13-20), Pope Leo XIV encouraged pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address (video) to ponder Christ’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” ... read more

In her cosmetology and health ministry, Daughter of Charity Sr. Oanh Tran restores clients' dignity, cutting like a surgeon through matted hair, washing and sometimes mending their feet, and listening to their stories. ... read more