In a significant development, government forces this week have taken control of large areas in northeast Syria’s Al-Jazeera region after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew following a surprise attack, while the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli remained outside of this advance. With Damascus announcing its resolve to regain control of these cities, Christians living…
The relationship between the Vatican and the U.S. Catholic bishops is not as contentious as people might think, according to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, who offered insights into his role as papal nuncio to the U.S. since 2016 during an interview with “EWTN News In-Depth” ahead of his 80th birthday. The French-born prelate described the past…
A Filipino bishop said human trafficking is a significant problem in the country driven by poverty, illegal recruitment, online abuse, and growing dangers facing migrants, women, and children. Bishop Socrates Mesiona of Puerto Princesa, chairman of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People within the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the…
For more than 50 years, Father Luigi Paggi has lived and worked among some of Bangladesh’s most marginalized people, building schools, teaching girls, and waging a quiet war against a practice that has claimed countless young lives: child marriage. The 77-year-old Italian Xaverian missionary has made it his life’s work to empower the Munda Indigenous…
Representatives from the U.S. and African bishops’ conferences convened in Washington, D.C., during a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill this week in a display of solidarity as religious freedom in Nigeria continues to come into sharper focus. Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of the Yola Diocese in northeast Nigeria concelebrated a Mass on Feb. 4 for…
Across continents, Filipino Catholics have emerged as what Pope Francis once memorably called “smugglers of the faith”: believers who carry the Gospel not by argument but through presence, perseverance, and hope. During the first-ever Simbang Gabi — a nine-day series of devotional Masses celebrated by Filipino Catholics from Dec. 16–24, leading up to Christmas —…
A steep decline in Catholic marriages in the U.S. over the past few decades is underscoring the need for “proactive” marriage support in the Church. Data obtained by EWTN News from the Official Catholic Directory shows a major drop-off in U.S. Catholic marriage, from about 267,000 in the year 2000 to just 111,718 in 2024,…
Ahead of general elections scheduled for next month, Catholic bishops in Thailand have urged all citizens to elect worthy candidates. “Let this election be proof of our love for God and our neighbors,” said Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana of Bangkok, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand, in a pastoral letter dated Jan….
In an official break with major medical organizations in the U.S., the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) issued a position statement this week recommending that due to the “low certainty” of benefit, plastic surgeons should delay surgeries related to treating gender dysphoria in children — including breast and chest, genital, and facial surgeries —…
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday voiced deep concern at a “lack of progress in protecting children from danger” as he met with the organizing committee of the initiative “From Crisis to Care: Catholic Action for Children.” Addressing participants gathered to advance proposals stemming from last year’s International Summit on Children’s Rights, convened by Pope Francis,…
