Simone Orendain

Catholic leaders, including an official from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' migration office, reiterated a pastoral approach to the issue of child detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The decree, dated Dec. 23, noted the increase in immigration enforcement activities in the Diocese of Columbus has created "a rise in fear and anxiety" in its immigrant community.

Jesuit priests and seminarians plus some laity found the remains of two women after they scoured an 80-mile stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert in a search for migrants, living or dead, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

A stakeholder — and next owner — of the Chicago White Sox baseball team said Pope Leo XIV told him that he'd "love to" throw a season opening first pitch in the future — "schedule permitting."

On Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, Catholics in Chicago joined in commemorating the great Irish famine that left more than 1 million people dead and began the mass exodus of Irish refugees and migrants seeking a better life to the United States and other countries 180 years ago.

If Gov. JB Pritzker signs it, Illinois would become the 12th state with such legislation. He has 60 days to act.

Pope Leo XIV said prayers for victims of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the central part of the Philippines that killed at least 72 people late Sept. 30, according to Archbishop Alberto Uy of Cebu.

"You showed the world what faith, spirit, and brotherhood look like," Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich told the singers. "Keep singing, leading, believing. God's not done with you."

Clergy and religious along with lay Catholic faithful came out in droves at an anti-corruption rally in the Philippines capital of Manila Sept. 21 that drew tens of thousands of protesters.

"He's a great model because he does a lot of the stuff we do," one eighth grader said. "But … he went to church every day. 

Pope Leo XIV turns 70 on Sept. 14 and some of his closest friends in the Chicago-area will mark the day with him in mind, quietly.

Hosted by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe July 13, the group observed the 80th anniversary of the first ever atomic bomb test that took place in south-central New Mexico by highlighting concerns over the devastating effects and mass destruction wrought by nuclear weapons.

A spokesperson for the Village of Dolton, Illinois, said the community is working to have the house named a historical site, which would make it eligible for federal and state funding for preservation.

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.

The hope that Pope Leo XIV has enkindled in Dolton is also enkindled for those who remember the shuttered church that formed him in his youth — not hope for a recreated past, but for new life in the future.

As details of Pope Leo XIV's past life come to light, many are struck by his Chicago roots and his Chicago-ness.

The lawsuit accuses the defendants of a "scheme to manufacture and assert fraudulent claims of priest sexual abuse for financial gain." 

Catholic groups that minister to migrants and refugees are expressing concern over President Donald Trump's order to revoke the parole program that allows legal migrants from several Latin American and Caribbean countries to connect with sponsoring family members and work in the United States.

Two Philippine priests who work with those affected by their country's deadly anti-drug campaign under then-President Rodrigo Duterte are closely monitoring developments in the former president's March 11 arrest and detention at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. They are following the news with elation and cautious hope he will be brought to justice.