Church leaders in Pakistan have welcomed the passage of a bill by the Punjab Assembly that classifies underage marriage as a non-bailable offense, while cautioning that enforcement challenges and systemic gaps could limit its impact on girls from minority communities. The Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2026, passed on April 27, sets 18 years as the…

The Archdiocese of New York has agreed to a nearly $1 billion settlement for victims of clergy abuse, one of the largest abuse settlements in U.S. Church history that comes after more than half a decade of litigation. The New York-based law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates said in a press release on May 1…

Police in Bangladesh arrested three Muslim men on April 30 in connection with a late-night assault on an Oblate missionary and a robbery at a Catholic church in the countryʼs capital, authorities said. Officers raided the area on the night of April 30 and detained the suspects, according to Tanvir Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the…

For the first time, the Sudeten German Association, uniting descendants of those expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II, will gather in Brno, the second-largest city in modern-day Czech Republic. They were invited by the cultural festival Meeting Brno for part of its multiday program in late May. Both entities will discuss reconciliation and commemorate…

Pope Leo XIV has appointed multiple new bishops to lead several dioceses around the United States, the Vatican announced on May 1. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a press release that Father John Gomez was appointed bishop-designate of the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, upon the retirement of Bishop James Tamayo from the…