Credit: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock Jan 14, 2026 / 17:55 pm (CNA). Twelve states filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 13, seeking to block what they call unlawful “gender conditions” imposed on billions of dollars in federal health, education, and research grants. The plaintiff states — New York,…

Church employee Francisco Paredes, 46, was handcuffed by ICE Dec. 4, 2025. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Francisco Paredes Jan 9, 2026 / 15:01 pm (CNA). U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surveilled St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Epiphany after deporting the parish’s beloved maintenance worker to Mexico five…

St. Francis of Assisi. | Credit: Paolo Gallo/Shutterstock Jan 12, 2026 / 17:21 pm (CNA). Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a “Special Year of St. Francis” to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death. During this time of grace, which will extend until January 2027, the faithful are granted the opportunity to obtain a…

Daniel Ortega, dictator of Nicaragua. | Credit: Council of Communication and Citizenship of the Government of Nicaragua – el19digital.com (CC0 1.0) Jan 12, 2026 / 16:21 pm (CNA). The Nicaraguan dictatorship announced on Jan. 10 the release of “dozens of people” who were imprisoned following pressure from the United States and coinciding with the 19th…

Republicans say they are crafting a bill to permanently defund Planned Parenthood Jan. 13, 2026. | Credit: usarmyband, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Jan 14, 2026 / 16:19 pm (CNA). House Republican lawmakers unveiled a framework that outlines their budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, which includes permanently defunding large abortion providers such…

Credit: Lars Hallstrom/Shutterstock Jan 14, 2026 / 17:04 pm (CNA). A total of 4,849 Christians were murdered for their faith worldwide between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, 373 more than in the same period the previous year, according to the 2026 World Watch List (WWL). According to an annual report presented Jan. 14…

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu in 2019. | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN Jan 14, 2026 / 11:45 am (CNA). The Vatican’s Court of Cassation has cleared the way for the appeal phase of the Secretariat of State funds trial — commonly tied in headlines to Cardinal Angelo Becciu — rejecting last-ditch procedural challenges and accepting the recusal of Vatican…

Veteran EWTN executive Edwin Lopez is the new executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Commission on Social Communications. | Credit: EWTN Jan 14, 2026 / 12:35 pm (CNA). Edwin Lopez, who for more than two decades has served as EWTN’s regional manager for Asia-Pacific, has been appointed as the new executive…