WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The U.S. Catholic bishops are inviting the faithful to pray for challenges to religious liberty both within the United States and abroad during the upcoming Religious Freedom Week.
National & World News
Survey: permanent deacon numbers in U.S. expected ‘to remain stable’ but continue slow decline
WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Results of an annual survey on the permanent diaconate of the U.S. Catholic Church show the estimated number of deacons in active ministry was 13,695 in 2022, the lowest since 2011.
Black Americans on the road to sainthood: Mother Mary Lange
As we conclude our journey through the lives of the six Black American candidates for sainthood in this WKC series, in this month of Mary our final candidate chose the name “Sister Mary” when she took her first vows as a religious.
Parents urged to be first to explain to their children what happened when a traumatic event occurs
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSV News) — When traumatic events happen, like the recent Nashville school shooting, it’s important for parents to explain to their children what has happened, said Melissa Smith, the program coordinator of school counseling and HOPE Clinical Services for Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville.
Archbishop, governor call for prayer as Louisville mourns mass shooting ‘in the shadow of the cross’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) — Amid calls for prayer and praise for first responders, officials confirmed that five people were killed in an April 10 mass shooting, Easter Monday morning, in a downtown bank in Louisville, Kentucky.
Black Americans on the road to sainthood: From slave to priest
This month we remember the Venerable Fr. Augustus Tolton who was born a slave in Brush Creek, Mo., on April 1, 1854 and who overcame numerous obstacles to become the first Black American ordained to the priesthood.
Bishops, Indigenous Catholics welcome Vatican condemnation of ‘Doctrine of Discovery,’ but say ‘more work to be done’
(OSV News) — Indigenous Catholics, along with U.S. and Canadian bishops, are welcoming the Vatican’s repudiation of a legal and political doctrine by which European colonial powers and North American governments historically seized lands from Indigenous peoples — while stressing there is more work to be done in healing Catholic-Indigenous relations.
Diocesan officials call mass shooting at Nashville Presbyterian school ‘sad, shocking,’ urge prayers for victims, families
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSV News) — Officials of the Nashville Diocese called news of a morning mass shooting and loss of life at a private Christian school in the city heartbreaking and “deeply sad and shocking.”
New ministries take Christ to abuse survivors to promote healing from their trauma
ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) — Two new ministries in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis seek to promote healing for those harmed by clergy abuse.
Young Catholic triathlete with Down syndrome, inspired by faith, tells UN he has ‘no limitations’
UNITED NATIONS (OSV News) — It was his first speaking engagement at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, and Gabriel Cobb, who has Down syndrome, was admittedly “a little nervous.”