OSV News

In an unusually blunt statement published June 15, the Cuban bishops' conference said that throughout the country, "it is continuously heard that things are not well, that we cannot continue like this, that something must be done to save Cuba and restore hope to us."

Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston is asking for prayers after flash floods devastated communities in Ohio County June 14 leaving eight people dead, including a 3-year-old child. As of June 18, one person was still missing.
 

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 18 upheld a Tennessee state law banning certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender.

"No one can turn a deaf ear to the palpable cries of anxiety and fear heard in communities throughout the country in the wake of a surge in immigration enforcement actions," said the leader of the nation's Catholic bishops in a June 16 statement that assured all impacted of their shepherds' support.

After a scene of horror in which around 200 people were "brutally killed" in Yelwata, in Benue state, Nigeria, Pope Leo XIV prayed for the victims, calling it a "terrible massacre."

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities USA are among more than 200 non-governmental organizations named in a congressional probe for aiding immigrants its leaders call "inadmissible aliens" during former President Joe Biden's administration.

People recall the victim teaching Sunday school years ago at St. Timothy in Blaine, Minnesota. 

"When legislation weakens access to basic, undeniable needs like food, health care and a livable environment, it violates our commitment to one another," Bishop Borys Gudziak writes.

Calls from bipartisan lawmakers and faith leaders across denominations are growing for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children deported to Russia, as the Trump administration withholds approved funding from a key research effort by Yale University to track the kids.

The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a Mass and a special program June 14 to celebrate the election and inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a native son of the Windy City.

In a quiet but powerful move, Vatican News has begun removing artwork by Fr. Marko Rupnik — the once-renowned mosaicist now accused of abusing over two dozen women — from its website. His mosaics, long used to mark major feast days online, were recently replaced or left blank — a shift many survivors say is long overdue.

Parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, are set to pay a total of $80 million into the diocese's $150 million bankruptcy settlement, with the funds due to be paid into a trust by July 15.

"AI systems must have human oversight and well-defined accountability in order to promote transparency, and fair democratic processes," they wrote. 

An expansive garden sitting on a third of an acre of parish property at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Frankford, the mission church of St. Ann Parish in Bethany Beach, serves neighbors in need within the boundaries of both churches and is the only one of its kind in the Wilmington Diocese.

The New York Senate has voted to legalize medically assisted suicide, a move that one Catholic bioethicist told OSV News marked "a dark day" for the state's residents, and the act will now head to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Protests broke out on June 6 after several raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which along with Customs and Border Protection is the law enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

At issue is what the diocese's legal counsel described in an Aug. 16, 2024, statement as an unlawful and unconstitutional alteration of how visa availability is calculated for certain noncitizens, which creates "profound immigration delays for noncitizen religious workers."

The U.S. Catholic bishops' latest annual report on child and youth protection shows abuse allegations continue to decline, but authors warned of the dangers of complacency.

"Just yesterday, I had three new ones," one vocations director said. "I'm used to getting maybe three in three months."

Teaser: "It is in their (the Trump administration's) interest to push the higher numbers to justify a mass deportation campaign," J. Kevin Appleby said.