(OSV News) — Dioceses across the U.S. are asked to hold additional listening sessions in the next few months, following a request from the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops which is preparing for the second session of the global Synod on Synodality in October.
National & World News
FOCUS leaders say synodality, listening to young people guided mission of SEEK24
ST. LOUIS (OSV News) — A record number of attendees gathered at the Jan. 1-5 SEEK24 conference in downtown St. Louis, with excitement already mounting for the 2025 conference.
Epiphany of the Lord: Traditions that focus on the ‘rey de reyes’
(OSV News) — After preparing for the birth of Jesus with posadas, live Nativity scenes, midnight Masses and Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) traditions, thousands of Latinos in the United States will continue the Christmas season by celebrating Epifanía, or Epiphany.
U.S. Catholics’ priest shortage faces new ‘serious crisis’ due to immigration law
(OSV News) — For the global faithful accustomed to reports of an ongoing vocations crisis, the Vatican’s March 2023 announcement that the worldwide number of seminarians, priests, and men and women in religious orders has declined was hardly a surprise.
Wearing a rosary can make a Latino a target for police, historian says
BOGOTÁ, Colombia (CNS) — Many law enforcement officers associate Catholic imagery and symbols with criminality in the U.S. Latino community, a historian researching the American Southwest said.
Sacraments, strategy help Catholics stay sober amid holidays, say experts
(OSV News) — The Christmas season can be challenging for those in addiction recovery, but sacramental grace and practical strategies can keep those seeking sobriety on track, pastoral experts told OSV News.
Posadas and pastoral outreach are central features in Latino Advent preparation
(OSV News) — The Christmas season is a time anticipated not only by children, but by everyone.
How to celebrate a Catholic Christmas
For Catholics, great feasts like Christmas don’t come at us out of the blue: In the secular world, “Christmas” seems to start in October! However, our approach to this holiday as Catholics must be different, and it can be.
Vatican Nativity scene to honor 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ creche
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter’s Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223.
‘Fully alive’ NCYC youth challenged to celebrate mysteries of faith, science and self
Grace Stecker of the Diocese of Helena, Montana, pulled out her cellphone and called her dad, right in the middle of a talk during the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).