Gina Christian

OSV News spoke with Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, Texas, moments after the Nov. 20 announcement of his appointment as the inaugural chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation.

Prominent Catholic philosophical and legal scholar Robert George has resigned from the board of the conservative Heritage Foundation, saying he "could not remain" without its president fully retracting a video defending a controversial interview, platforming a leading white supremacist, that has split conservatives over the issue of antisemitism.

Catholic bishops in the Caribbean are calling for dialogue, cooperation and calm amid rising geopolitical tensions that have seen a U.S. military buildup in the region. Such tensions compound a number of ongoing crises in several Caribbean nations, several of which are now also grappling with extensive damage from Hurricane Melissa.

The U.S. Supreme Court has moved to temporarily block full payments necessary to fund SNAP, a program providing food support to millions of Americans with low incomes, after the Trump administration asked the court to hear its request to issue only partial payments in November.

A former director of stewardship and development for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has been arrested and charged with theft. Federal prosecutors allege he stole more than $150,000 using his diocesan credit card.

"It does not matter whether some of our brothers and sisters have proper documentation or not," Archbishop Alexander Sample declared in a Nov. 8 statement. "They are our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ."

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See's U.N. apostolic nuncio and permanent observer, delivered two statements on the issue Oct. 27 and Oct. 30 at the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Ahead of the United Nations' annual climate conference, two U.S. Catholic bishops and the leader of a top Catholic aid agency are calling for urgent, long-term action to safeguard both creation and humanity.

Bishop Timothy C. Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, condemned a local Catholic school's use of a prominent Nazi symbol on a float in a community Halloween parade.

Attorneys for the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, have moved to voluntarily dismiss a lawsuit they had filed against the federal government regarding visas for religious workers — a case that highlights the perfect storm created by the nation's shifting immigration policies and the increased reliance on international clergy by the Catholic Church in the United States amid a downturn in domestic vocations to the priesthood.
 

The Archdiocese of San Antonio is speaking out after the GoFundMe company created donation pages on its behalf without the archdiocese's approval.

A coalition of Catholic organizations held prayer vigils across the country on Oct. 22 for what organizers called "a national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters."

Catholics across the nation are being invited to publicly pray for migrants, with two coast-to-coast days of witness planned amid the Trump administration's continuing crackdown on unauthorized immigration.

Directed by Ukrainian filmmaker Yaroslav Lodygin, the documentary features on-the-ground, often intensely emotional interviews with Ukrainian Christians from a number of denominations who have been systematically persecuted by Russian occupiers.

The Holy See's diplomat to the United Nations has called for three key priorities in addressing the global crises of poverty, conflict and climate change.

Jadira Bonilla, a Catholic who teaches kindergarten at St. Mary School in Vineland, New Jersey, is "currently on paid administrative leave," said Principal Steven Hogan, in a statement provided to OSV News Oct. 1 by the Diocese of Camden, of which the school is a part.

Five years after the release of Pope Francis' encyclical on fraternal love, and amid a rise in political violence, the leader of the U.S. Catholic bishops is pleading for a rediscovery of — and respect for — a common humanity.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who serves as the Vatican's secretary for relations with states and international organizations, shared his thoughts Sept. 29 while addressing the U.N. General Assembly, amid the opening of its 80th session at its New York headquarters.

Several Catholic bishops are expressing their sorrow over a deadly attack at a Michigan house of worship, which took place just weeks after a mass shooting at a Minnesota Catholic church.

Diocesan bishops and vocations directors are largely satisfied with their seminaries' formation programs — but some gaps remain between clergy and mental health professionals as to the role of ongoing psychological services in assessing candidates' readiness for ordination, according to a new report.