World News

A court in Spain’s Basque Country acquitted 21 peaceful pro-life protestors of harassment charges. The participants in the prayer vigil, who took part in a 40 Days for Life campaign, stood 50 feet from an abortion clinic and displayed posters with messages like “you are not alone, we are here to help you.” ... read more

Jimmy Lai, the Catholic Hong Kong media tycoon and outspoken critic of Beijing, has just been convicted in what many observers are calling a “show trial” under China’s sweeping National Security Law. The trial of the 78-year-old Lai, which was conducted without a jury and overseen by three government‑appointed judges, ended with guilty verdicts on ... read more

‘Synodal Way’ flags fly in front of the Congress Center Messe Frankfurt in Germany in 2022. (Image: Max von Lachner/Synodal Way.) When it was first published in 1993, Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical on the reform of Catholic moral theology, Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth), dealt a severe blow to the ... read more

The New York Times ran a December 12 feature whose thesis is depressingly simple: American elementary and secondary students no longer read full-length books. The title says it all: “Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.” “Rarely” now means perhaps one or two books a year—four at most. And even those few ... read more

Father Renato Kizito Sesana, a Comboni missionary, described recent attacks on civilians in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains as the fighting in the nation’s civil war spreads there. Quoted in the most prominent article in the Vatican newspaper’s December 16 edition, Father Sesana spoke of drone attacks on “a small clinic, near a ... read more

Sister Raffaella Petrini, president of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, presided at the inauguration of the Christmas tree and Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square on the evening of December 15 (video). The tree comes from the northern Italian Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone; the Nativity scene comes from the southern Italian Diocese ... read more

In a foreword to a new book on the Second Vatican Council, a former director of the Holy See Press Office praised the authors for “rekindling the desire to personally read the Council documents in their original and complete text.” Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, president of the Joseph Ratzinger—Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, said ... read more

James Tissot (1836-1902), ‘Woe Unto You, Scribes and Pharisees’ COMMENTARY: We often mistake intelligence for wisdom, but only goodness helps us see reality as it truly is. ... read more

Cardinal Gerhard Muller arrives for Mass at the annual Student Leadership Summit of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students at the Phoenix Convention Center Jan. 1, 2020. (CNS photo/Jesus Valencia, Catholic Sun) European Secularism vs. The Catholic Church – “European secularism is not at all devoid of religion. It is a soft ... read more

John Gehring addresses the ways conservative Catholics crafted a coalition with various conservative political forces, sometimes in ways that deeply compromised their faith. ... read more

Just in time for the 10-year anniversary of Laudato Si' and Christmas, the independent, lay-led program has planted 1,000 trees throughout the archdiocese's massive geographic footprint — but they're not stopping yet. ... read more

Advent peace is not the peace of sanitized images, writes Kat Armas. It is the peace of God-with-us in our flesh, our struggle, our vulnerability. A peace that does not hide from the world's pain but inhabits it. ... read more

The European Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium. / Credit: Ala z via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) EWTN News, Dec 17, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA). In a strongly secular European Union, the Balkans’ complex religious reality plays an important role as officials and diplomats gather on Wednesday to discuss the membership plans for ... read more

By Bohumil Petrík EWTN News, Dec 17, 2025 / 04:00 am In a strongly secular European Union, the Balkans’ complex religious reality plays an important role as officials and diplomats gather on Wednesday to discuss the membership plans for six nations. The EU-Western Balkans summit on Dec. 17 brings ... read more

John Prevost reflects on the years after his brother left home, from his brother Robert's time in the minor seminary and missionary life in Peru to his transition into the papacy. ... read more